The Manslayer (Dropped, Possible Future Remaster)
by DodoNation
Summary: On a remote island off the coast of Vale, an ancient Grimm of immense power is plotting his next move. However, this Grimm will rebel against the wills of Salem, seeking the betterment of his kin over the destruction of humanity. Can Manslayer and his ragtag band of Grimm survive a world where both sides oppose them?
1. Chapter 1

The oceans of Remnant were an interesting place.

Thanks to sea dwelling Grimm, they were largely unexplored outside of established routes, leaving vast areas entirely unexplored by man. Anything could be out there, it only took a dedicated enough soul to uncover it.

One such explorer flew lazily above the waves, staring down into the water. It was a rather peculiar looking Nevermore, the creature only managing to reach a size somewhere between the average human and Ursa. The Nevermore kept flying forwards, as if it had some goal or destination in mind.

Onwards the small Grimm went for several hours, darkness beginning to creep into the sky as night fell. The Nevermore continued onwards, ignoring all fatigue and never wavering from their beeline path. Finally, a landmass slowly began to form some distance away.

A tropical island. Sandy white beaches dotted with palm trees were visible, with the tree cover becoming significantly denser a short ways from shore. The Nevermore let out a sound akin to a relieved sigh as it made landfall, talons sinking into the wet sand. After a short rest, the Grimm walked into the trees ahead of it.

For any other Nevermore, walking among the relatively dense palm forest would be impossible without bulldozing the entire thing. However, for the smaller Grimm, it was not more than slightly challenging to do so. The Nevermore continued the journey forwards, weaving its way through the trees with a sense of familiarity.

A couple of minutes of walking brought the small Grimm to a clearing. There were no trees here, trampled stumps showing signs that wasn't always the case however. The Nevermore looked around before unfurling its wings and letting out a long caw. The ground shook slightly. In the distance, the sound of trees snapping and breaking was clearly audible as something large approached. The Nevermore seemed unworried, picking at its wings as it waited.

A Deathstalker pushed down several trees in front of it, stepping into view. The Grimm was large, even by Deathstalker standards, dwarfing the small Nevermore by several times. Strangely, it featured an inverted color palette, sporting white flesh protected by black plates of armor.

The Deathstalker approached the Nevermore, tail swinging back and forth as it neared. The two Grimm locked their pale eyes, four meeting seven, as the Deathstalker came to a halt.

Slowly, the larger Grimm's mouth parts moved. **"Dawn... you've returned."**

Dawn, despite having a beak, gave off the appearance of grinning. **"Yep! Did you miss me Sheer?"**

**"No."**

**"Oh come on, I know you did!"**

"Do not waste time on such matters. Our lord is anxiously awaiting your report."

Dawn moved her wing, as if to dismiss the notion. **"Ah, you make it sound so dramatic! Alright, I'll come, but…"**

**"What is it now?"**

**"Can you carry me? My wings are sore from flying so far…"**

**"..."**

Sheer the massive, killing machine that he was, crumpled under the pleading look of his companion.

**"Fine…"**

**"Hooray!"**

With a few flaps, Dawn perched herself on Sheer's back. With a happy coo, she sat down, getting comfortable. Chittering irately, Sheer began to travel down a beaten path. As they went, several other Grimm appeared, becoming more common the further they went.

The entire island was full of Grimm, all sporting the same pale eyes as Dawn and Sheer, and nearly every type imaginable was present. All of them had been brought here by their leader, Manslayer, who often went on expeditions to the mainland to rescue more Grimm.

The island, while also a good base of operations, also acted a safe haven. It was fairly remote, and offered nothing of value of humans, so they never bothered to explore it. As such, a Grimm could come here from the mainland and never see a human for the rest of their lives if they so choose.

Of course, some did choose to go back to the mainland with Manslayer, and help him on such expeditions. Dawn had joined the team around two years ago, being the most recent addition. Sheer had been on the island and on Manslayer's team long before Dawn ever arrived, having built up quite the reputation among the Grimm there.

Dawn sighed. She hoped that someday she could live up to Sheer's reputation. Manslayer hadn't yet sent her out on any solo missions, always sending at least one other Grimm to accompany her outside of these simple recon missions. Dawn didn't mind the company, but she really wanted to prove herself. Everyone just thought of her as an innocent, sweet little thing, which she wasn't denying, but she could be good in serious situations too!

Eventually, Dawn and Sheer reached another clearing. This one was far more deliberate then the first, and an empty chair that was fashioned from logs and fines sat in its center. A King Taijitu was curled around the chair, as if protecting it, asleep.

Dawn dismounted from Sheer's back and walked towards the sleeping serpent Grimm. Quickly, she pecked its side.

**"Wake up lazy bones!"**

The King Taijitu was roused from its slumber, slowly uncoiling to face Dawn. While most King Taijitu had a head on their front and back ends, this particular one had both heads towards the front, splitting off from a grey body in a v shape.

**"I was having the most wonderful dream too…"**

**"Ah! You've returned! Manssssslayer was looking for you!"**

Both heads spoke of their own accord, addressing Dawn separately. The white head of the King Taijitu looked at the black head with irritation.

**"Why did you bother dragging out the s? We don't have to speak like that."**

**"I dunno, it just felt right…"**

Sheer walked forwards, interrupting the conversation. **"Tai, Ju, where is Manslayer?"**

Tai and Ju turned their attention towards Sheer, Ju speaking for them both. **"He had to go settle some problem between two Beowolves and a Gheist awhile ago. Haven't seen him since. Why?"**

**"Dawn has some important information to relay to our lord. She's just arrived from the recon mission."**

Tai looked down at Dawn. **"Ah, so that's where you went off to!"**

Ju once again looked annoyed with her brother. **"Did you seriously not know? Manslayer told us all about the mission."**

**"I… may or may not have been paying attention…?"**

Sheer let out an angry snarl. **"You should be following Manslayer's every word with focus!"**

**"Jeez, sorry Sheer, but you know how Manslayer gets when he's giving a speech."**

**"The habits of our lord to not excuse your shortcomings."**

**"Come on Sheer, go easy on him!"**

Sheer turned his attention to Dawn. **"This isn't just some simple, kill a few humans matter, these two are Manslayer's personal guard. Tai should have been paying much closer attention."**

Tai seemed to wilt under Sheer's words. **"S-Sorry…"**

**"I will have to report this failure to-"**

Ju's tongue flicked outwards idly. **"Brother dearest has learned his lesson. I think that's quite enough."**

**"Very well then..."**

Things became a bit awkward. Tai looked downcast while Ju and Sheer exchanged heated glances. Dawn picked at her feathers, intent on staying out of it.

**"Hello, sorry to keep you waiting."**

Sheer, Dawn, Tai, and Ju all turned in surprise towards the suddenly appearing voice voice.

The figure before them was alien, not being like any documented species of Grimm. It stood like a human would, with two arms and legs and a generally humanoid body plan. The similarities stopped there, however, as the entire body was jet black except for two glowing white eyes that stood out from the rest of the figure's shape.

Sheer was the first to react, hastily bowing. **"My lord. Welcome back."**

The newcomer smiled, revealing a glowing mouth that matched their eyes. **"No need for such formalities."**

**"Yes my l- Manslayer."**

Manslayer turned to Dawn. **"I'm glad to see you've returned safe from your mission."**

The little Nevermore puffed her chest out proudly. **"Yep! And the info you wanted!"**

The smile faded from Manslayer's face, blank eyes gleaming with interesting. **"Do tell."**

**"Alright so here's the deal, that Ozpin guy you wanted me to keep an eye on has gathered up a bunch of Grimm and put them in the Emerald Forest for… some reason. I didn't try and contact any of them in order to keep my cover, but I was able to pick out a lot of Beowolves and Ursai from the air. Mighta been some others, too."**

**"...I see. Thank you Dawn."**

The small Nevermore looked pleased with herself, nodding. Manslayer moved to address the group.

**"There's a reason Ozpin has been gathering Grimm, I suspect. You're all aware he's the headmaster of Beacon Academy, one of the largest hunter training schools in all of Remnant, correct?"**

Sheer hissed unhappily. **"Butchers, the lot of them. We should wipe them out."**

**"Now now Sheer. I know hunters are unfriendly at the best of times, but not only is launching an assault on Beacon and surviving an impossible task, but even if we could somehow succeed, it would be foolish to mount such an attack. We have powerful enemies already, making all of Vale join the list is a poor idea."**

Sheer looked unsatisfied with the answer, but did not object.

**"As I was saying, Ozpin leads Beacon. I suspect the reason he's gathered Grimm in the forest is for newcomers to test their mettle against them and prove themselves to the academy."**

Dawn let out a gasp. **"So wait, he's going out of his way to collect these Grimm, who are minding their own business, just to have them killed as a show?!"**

Manslayer nodded gravely. **"Indeed. It's nasty business, and that's exactly why I intend to disrupt it."**

Ju flicked out her forked tongue again, looking dubious. **"You just said making an enemy of Ozpin was a foolish idea, how is you going in and attacking his students any less foolish?"**

**"I'm glad you asked. Obviously, I cannot do this myself, as my presence would attract too much attention from Ozpin, so that's why I'm planning on sending Dawn to do it for me."**

Tai and Ju both exchanged worried looks while Sheer pounded a claw on the ground. **"Dawn is not up for such a task! You'd send her to her death!"**

Dawn shrunk a bit. "**Yeah boss… I don't think I can take on that many hunters at once, even if they're just newbies."**

**Manslayer sighed. "I'm not asking you to storm in, kill every single hunter, and fly away. Instead, a mere disruption is all we need. Enough to send Ozpin a message not to trifle with the Grimm in such a sadistic manner, but nothing risky enough to put Dawn in any serious harm's way."**

Dawn tilted her head slightly. **"So what exactly do you want me to do?"**

**"I want you to travel to the Emerald Forest during the initiation tests and liberate as many Grimm as you possibly can. Do you remember how to do it?"**

**"Yeah, you look them in the eyes and will it right?"**

**"Correct. I will also ask that in doing this you give any initiates a bit of a roughing up if you encounter them, but absolutely under no condition are you to use lethal force, nor keep fighting if you are hurt. We want to rustle Ozpin's feathers and make him not want to put innocent Grimm in harm's way, not send Dawn to her death."**

Dawn puffed out her chest once again. **"Now that sounds like something I can do!"**

Sheer took a step forwards. **"My lord, are you sure about this?"**

**"Yes, Sheer. We've sat around and twiddled our thumbs beyond minor missions to the mainland. I think it's finally time we make some larger moves."**

**"Very well then, my lord."**

**"Please, Sheer, you don't have to call me that."**

**"..."**

**"Anyways, you are all dismissed. Dawn, you are to leave tomorrow morning once you've rested."**

The four Grimm gave their leave before departing. Dawn flew off into the sky, while Sheer trundled off back the way he came, and Tai and Ju slithered away into the forest. Now alone, Manslayer took a seat in his chair, staring off into the night sky.

…

Stretching her wings, Dawn opened her eyes. The sun was just beginning its rise, staining the sky a brilliant shade of orange. The little Nevermore stood in awe of the beautiful sight for a few moments before running over to two other Nevermore roosted nearby.

**"Nightwing! Darkfeather! Look at the sunrise!"**

The two much larger Grimm squawked unhappily as Dawn practically threw herself into their sides, waking them up.

**"Ugh… what…?**

**"Really Dawn?"**

Dawn somehow managed to pull off a pout. **"Don't be slouches! Isn't it beautiful?"**

Nightwing and Darkfeather both looked off into the sunrise, while Dawn squeezed her way in between them, getting cozy.

**"Yeah, it's alright."**

**"Mmmm. Very average."**

Dawn let out an indignant squawk. **"It's not alright or average, it's freakin' majestic!"**

Darkfeather let out something akin to laughter, while Nightwing pulled Dawn under his wing. **"Ahh you guys are the worst! Let go of me!"**

The small Nevermore struggled, but was no match for the loving embrace of her much larger counterpart. **"This is punishment for waking us up so early, Dawn."**

**"You can't hold me here forever! I have to go on a super duper important mission for Manslayer!"**

**"Oh?"**

Nightwing's grip slacked and Darkfeather looked down at Dawn curiously.

**"Yeah! I'm going back to Vale to fight some hunters and save some Grimm!"**

**"Awh, Lil sis is really moving up in the world!"**

**"She is, isn't she?"**

**"Hey! We're all from the same flock! You aren't older than me!"**

**"But you are the smallest."**

Dawn headbutted Nightwing's flank out of annoyance, causing the larger Nevermore to chuckle.

**"Boo! You know I'm not good at fighting big stuff, don't make fun of me!"**

The only answer Dawn got was a large wing wrapping around her again. She let out a defeated sigh, giving in to Nightwing's clutches. The trio of Nevermore sat in silence for some time, watching as the sun slowly crept its way higher into the sky. Eventually, Dawn managed to worm her way out of Nightwing's grip.

**"Alright guys… I probably should be going now. Manslayer wanted me to travel as soon as I could, since the new hunters will be at the forest in a couple of days."**

Nightwing looked down at Dawn with worry in his eyes. **"Dawn… please be safe. Humans are very dangerous creatures."**

Darkfeather nodded, mirroring the sentiment. **"There's a reason we stay hidden on this island. If the humans knew where we were, they'd wipe us all out. Not even Manslayer would be able to save us."**

**"I know, I know! I'll be careful! Besides, I'm way better than you two at fighting humans! I'm quick, agile, and not a massive target unlike you two!"**

**"Are you calling us fat?"**

**"Uh… no…?"**

Dawn tried to look innocent as Darkfeather and Nightwing looked down at her sternly. After a few moments, he siblings burst into laughter.

**"Good luck Dawn."**

**"Yeah, come home in one piece, okay?"**

**"I will, don't worry! Those humans couldn't take me if they tried!"**

The three Nevermore touched their beaks together as a sign of parting. Dawn closed her eyes and cooed softly. She was going to miss her brothers, even if this wouldn't be a long expedition. After a short time of enjoying the moment, Dawn pulled away and began to take off.

**"See you two soon! Keep an eye on Sheer for me! Bye!"**

Nightwing and Darkfeather waved to Dawn as she flew back towards the ocean, slowly fading away to black specks in her view. Dawn began to pump her wings faster, soaring over the island with lightning speed. While she was a bit nervous about all of this, Dawn knew she could handle it. She was one of Manslayer's elite Grimm, and the worst she'd be up against were some inexperienced huntsman.

What's the worst that could happen?

* * *

**Thank you for reading the first chapter of "The Manslayer!" This is my first venture into RWBY fan fiction, so I hope the idea of Grimm that act independently from Salem isn't too crazy or out there. Trust me, there are reasons, but they won't be revealed for awhile.**

** In case anyone was wondering, the reason why the Grimm speak in bold text is because they have their own language, Grimmspeak. Outside of authors notes, any text in bold is this language, which while understood by pretty much every Grimm, is unrecognizable by humans. Grimm, likewise, cannot understand or speak "English" with a key few exceptions. **

**I can't wait to see everyone's comments and reviews! Cya'll next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

The landscape below Dawn was a slow blur of green as she flew through the sky.

The Emerald Forest was still a short distance away but Dawn was making excellent time. She may or may not have taken a ridiculously dangerous shortcut over Vale to shave some time off the flight, allowing her to enjoy a more relaxed trip to the forest.

As much as she hated to admit it, Dawn was pretty nervous about all of this. She had fought humans before, trained hunters even, but this was her first time going out on a human fighting mission without Manslayer. These novices would be a lot easier to deal with compared to a seasoned hunter, but since they were forming teams, they might end up ganging up on her.

Dawn shuddered imagining it. She'd heard horror stories of even the largest and most powerful Grimm being brought down by vicious swarms of humans. They always went for vulnerable areas that were hard to defend, wearing you down with disturbing persistence. Gods forbid if you actually killed one of their group and managed to escape, they'd hunt you down across the face of Remnant for revenge.

Sheer often liked to tell stories about the huntress that had stabbed his eye out and nearly finished him off, only for Manslayer to arrive and save the day. If even someone as powerful as Sheer could be brought down by a single hunter, Dawn shook at the thought of fighting an entire team of them alone.

**"It's just a bunch of disorganized, untrained rookies. There'll be other Grimm in the forest to help too. You'll be fine Dawn."**

Shaking off the train of thought, Dawn picked up speed slightly as the Emerald Forest finally came into view. It was fairly similar to the rest of the forest, but Dawn recognized it by the slightly taller trees and cliff face to the north. The forest seemed so peaceful and unassuming, unprepared for the incoming conflict.

Dawn noted that there was another Nevermore by the northern cliff. The Grimm was perched on a ruined spire and picking at its feathers, unaware of the events that were about to occur. Dawn took mental note of its presence. If the humans pushed her towards the cliffs, she could get the Nevermore to help her. However, for the time being, she left it alone. Best not to draw too much attention too early.

To the south, Dawn saw a somewhat large group of humans assembled. She couldn't make them out very well, but there was no doubt these would be the hunters she was going to fight. Deciding to stay off their radar, Dawn dove below the tree cover. Rather than go after the group now, she decided to wait for them to come to her. The hunters had to get into the forest somehow, probably by climbing down.

It would be the perfect time for the first strike.

Dawn flew low, as to draw less attention to herself. Her talons nearly touched the treetops as she flapped her wings, eyes still focused on the hunters. Dawn was able to count 18 of them in total, although two figures stood away from the rest. One was easily recognizable. Ozpin looked so unassuming from behind, light grey hair and dark green suit hiding what was no doubt one of the most influential people on Remnant. He honestly gave Dawn the creeps, and she wasn't quite sure why.

The other figure was new to Dawn. From behind she couldn't make out much, but Dawn assumed they were a female based on their dress and hairstyle. Probably a teacher or some other staff member at Beacon who worked closely with Ozpin.

Then there was the hunters. It was a diverse cast, for sure. Dawn was a bit in awe of the sheer amount of colors in both their outfits and hair, making them look like something out of a fantastical story. Red, white, black, yellow, orange, brown, pink… and much more. Dawn would have loved to get a closer look if they wouldn't try and cut her head off.

While Ozpin was explaining something to the rookies, Dawn decided to scan the forest from above to try to spot some other Grimm. She knew that there was at least several dozen Beowolves and Ursai scattered around, and chances were some others too. Since the hunters would be tied up in their climb down to the forest, Dawn still had plenty of time to fly down and bring as many Grimm as she could to her side.

A few minutes of searching yielded nothing. Where had all the Grimm gone? Dawn had seen them with her own eyes not all that long ago, so she knew they were in the forest. She sighed. This was not ideal, sure, but she didn't really need to help of other Grimm for this mission. Saving them was mostly what she was after, but she could handle the fighting aspect. Suddenly, Dawn ripped from her focus by the sound of a human screaming.

Looking back towards the cliff, Dawn realized with horror the humans were most certainly not climbing down, but instead flying through the air. The little Nevermore squawked as a stray bullet cut through the air close to her. These humans must be insane, they were not only catapulting themselves into the air, but were attacking her while doing it!

Dawn took evasive maneuvers as more random projectile fire shot towards her. Thankfully, it wasn't all that hard to dodge. Humans might have respectable aim when they had time to steady themselves, but it was moot when flying through the air. One by one, the hunters began to hit the treeline and disappear. Once they all were gone from view, Dawn took a moment to regain her composure.

This turned out to be a terrible idea. From nowhere, a screaming ball of yellow hair launched itself towards Dawn. The Grimm let out a startled shriek and attempted to move out of the way, but it was too late. The hunter collided with Dawn, sending the two of them into an entangled spiral through the canopy. Several branches smacked them both on the way down before they finally landed a short distance away from each other.

…

Yang got to her feet. Without a doubt, that had to be the coolest landing ever. She'd knocked that Nevermore out of the sky! While it would have been a bit cooler if she had actually stuck the landing, Yang wasn't going to complain about it.

The Nevermore hissed at her, having also gotten to its feet. Yang noted that it was rather small, probably a young Grimm. Instead of the trademarked glowing red Grimm eyes, it sported pale white ones. The insulted Nevermore was yet to make a move, but had its wings outstretched to the side and feathers puffed out to appear larger.

"Say, you wouldn't have happened to see a girl in a red hood around here?"

The Grimm kept staring. It let out a strange sounding caw and took a step backwards, as if retreating. Strange… usually only the oldest Grimm showed signs of self preservation, not random juvenile Nevermore.

As the Grimm took steps backwards, Yang took steps forwards. "You know, for a Grimm you sure don't seem like you want to fight!"

The Nevermore responded raising its wings above its head and firing a barrage of feathers towards Yang. Grinning, Yang ducked and rolled, blasting the feathers out of the sky with shots from Ember Cecilia as she dodged.

When the explosions cleared, Yang realized the Nevermore had used the exchange as a chance to flee. The strange Grimm had turned and begun sprinting away, disappearing into the depths of the forest.

Yang scratched her head. "Well that was… weird."

…

Dawn's heart was beating a million miles an hour. That hunter had taken her totally by surprise. While Dawn was confident she could have taken them in a normal match, she didn't feel like chancing it after being ambushed from the sky.

Never in all her life did Dawn expect such a thing to happen. Sure humans had their ships, but Nevermore were masters of the skies! To have such a thing happen to her was honestly humiliating. Besides, there was at least 15 other hunters to mess with. Dawn didn't have to stick around with that insane one.

Dawn was so absorbed in her thoughts as she ran, she bumped right into another human. While Dawn wasn't massive, she was still a good deal larger than the hunter in question, sending them sprawling to the ground.

"Waah! Ow!"

Before the human could get up, Dawn pressed her talon gently to their chest to hold them in place. The hunter let out a yelp and squirmed, but wasn't able to escape. It made Dawn feel powerful, knowing that she had overcome such a fearsome and deadly hunter. Looking down at the thrashing girl, Dawn realized with shock that she had silver eyes. The little Nevermore shrieked and stumbled backwards, terrified.

**"Wait! Please don't kill me!"**

The hunter got to her feet, brandishing a large scythe towards Dawn. She scowled, eyes gleaming menacingly.

**"I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"**

Dawn leaped into the air and took to the skies, flying away as fast as she could. The hunter fired a shot at Dawn, but it missed. Thankfully, they did not use her deadly silver eyes as Dawn breached the tree cover and escaped. The Nevermore let out a relieved exhale as she flew away.

**"By the gods… what is wrong with these humans?"**

First they flew into the sky, then they attacked her from the sky, and now there was one with silver eyes running around too? Was Remnant as they knew it ending?! Forget being subtle and not drawing any attention to herself, Dawn was going to need some backup.

As she flew towards the ruins where the Nevermore had been, Dawn heard the familiar sound of a Deathstalker. At first she had thought it was Sheer, but she quickly remembered that this was a solo mission. There must be another Deathstalker in the forest, which while Dawn had serious doubts could be as good as having Sheer around, wasn't nothing.

Dawn was able to spot the Deathstalker from the air, chasing after two of the hunters. It was hot on their heels, but the humans seemed to be pulling away. Tucking her wins in, Dawn swooped downwards like a hawk.

One of the humans noticed her dive and raised their weapon, hurling it towards Dawn. Dawn spun and dodged out of the way, but the weapon turned around mid air and chased after her like a demented wasp. Startled, Dawn kept bobbing and weaving out of the way of the weapon as she made her way towards the Deathstalker and the hunters.

The javelin was persistent in its attempts to skewer Dawn, narrowly missing as it whistled by her left wing. Hissing, Dawn tucked her wings in and began to drop out of the sky. The cursed thing chased behind her, slowly gaining. Just before Dawn went splat on the ground, she unfurled her wings and put on a burst of speed forwards. The javelin couldn't slow down fast enough and embedded itself in the ground.

Not pausing, Dawn hit the ground and began sprinting after the Deathstalker and its prey. She gained quickly, soon running alongside the much larger Grimm.

**"Hey you with the pincers!"**

The Deathstalker paid Dawn no mind, its attention entirely on catching and killing the two humans before it. With another burst of speed, Dawn leapt into the air. Spinning, she landed in between the Deathstalker and the humans.

Dawn stretched out her wings and locked eyes with the Deathstalker. **"Stop!"**

There was a dull burning sensation in the back of Dawn's eyes. The Deathstalker slid to a halt, stopping mere meters away from Dawn. It let out an enraptured hiss, eyes locked with Dawns. Gradually, the burning red of the Deathstalker's eyes transitioned to a more dull pale.

The Deathstalker pivoted in place, curious at its surroundings. **"Huh…?"**

Dawn promptly let out a massive sigh. She didn't actually expect that to work.

**"Welcome to the world of the awakened! Pretty great, right?"**

**"I feel so much more… alive?"**

Dawn nodded cheerily. **"Yeah, it feels nice not being used as a soulless machine of war doesn't it!"**

**"Yes… thank you!"**

As the Deathstalker express its thanks, Dawn saw the pair of humans retreating in the corner of her eye. She had no doubt they'd be going to group up with the others she had seen before.

Dawn smirked. If they wanted to group up, then so would they.

**"I need you to come with me, alright? We have to fight some humans, but I'll cover you."**

The Deathstalker looked hesitant, worried even. **"I'm not sure. They seem awfully dangerous."**

Dawn placed her wing on her chest with a determined look. **"I've fought against seasoned hunters and won before! These are just a bunch of rookies, it'll be fine!"**

Dawn carefully chose to omit the part about having Manslayer and other Grimm to back her up.

**"Well… alright then. Let's go."**

The two set off at a comfortable pace, slightly slower than a run. Dawn considered her options. Trying to fight all the hunters at once was no doubt suicide, so if she wanted to get the Deathstalker and the Nevermore out of here, a more delicate approach was needed.

The hunters were forming teams, weren't they? Last time Dawn checked, hunter teams came in fours, not sixteens. While trying to fight 16 hunters was downright crazy, fighting 4 was a lot more manageable. Considering they were rookies, Dawn might have been able to do it on her own, and especially with a Deathstalker backing her up.

A group of hunters in danger fighting against Grimm would attract attention from the others. If Dawn could quickly beat one team, and then flee, all the others would flock to the aid of their fallen brethren. Dawn would then be able to nab the Nevermore, and any other Grimm on the way out, and then exit the forest.

Since they were already heading in the same direction, Dawn decided to take care of whatever team the two humans from earlier were headed off to. After what the red haired one with the javelin had tried to pull, Dawn would feel no guilt in beating up on them.

Two to four humans.

Nice and easy.

…

With a scream, Ruby plummeted from the sky.

Hitching a ride on the massive Nevermore wasn't exactly her best plan ever. Weiss had pointed that out, but she was such a downer! Maybe if she hadn't complained about every single thing Ruby did, she would have paid her concerns a little more head.

Well, it didn't matter now. Ruby was falling from the sky, Weiss a short distance behind her. Below, Ruby could make out Yang and a black haired girl.

"Yaaaaaaaaang! Catch meeeeeeeee!"

Yang scrambled to get into a good position. To Ruby's relief, she managed to get to the right place at the right time and catch her.

"Dropping in?"

The sisters exchanged laughter at Yang's joke. The black haired girl opened her mouth to say something, but was crushed by a falling Weiss.

"Ahhh!"

"Ouf!"

Yang laughed again as Ruby went over to check on the two. "Are you guys alright?"

Weiss stood up and dusted herself off, doing her best to look regal. "Yes. I'm fine."

The black haired girl, face still in the dirt, gave a weak thumbs up. Yang shook her head with a grin and pulled her partner to her feet.

"This is Blake by the way. She's great for more than just landing cushions."

Blake nodded. "I'd say it's nice to meet you, but… that wasn't a very nice experience."

Yang and Ruby snorted while Weiss turned her head with a harumph. Suddenly, two figures burst from the treeline in full sprint, running towards them.

Ruby recognized them right away. "Jaune! Pyrrha!"

Jaune and Pyrrha reached the group, Jaune stopping to catch his breath while Pyrrha bore a look of grave concern.

"There was a Deathstalker on our tail, but-"

A roar interrupted Pyrrha. An Ursa burst into the clearing, but an explosion slammed into it from behind, causing it to fall dead. An orange haired girl appeared behind the fallen Grimm, looking disappointed at its body began to fade away into smoke.

"Ren, I think this one's broken!"

The boy who was apparently Ren trailed shortly behind the orange haired girl, leaning up against a tree to catch his breath. "Nora… please don't ever do that again."

Nora skipped over to the temple behind the assembled group and eyed the chess pieces stationed on pillars there. With a wide grin, she snatched a rook and placed it on her head.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"

"Nora!"

Ren made his way over to the group, looking sternly at his energetic companion. Pyrrha, looking around to make sure nobody else decided to fall out of the sky or appear from the forest first, opened her mouth to continue.

"The Deathstalker-"

The Deathstalker burst through the treeline with a triumphant screech. Everyone turned to face the incoming Grimm, weapons raised. However, the Deathstalker did not charge them, instead hesitating and even taking a few steps backwards.

Before either party advanced on the other, a familiar little Nevermore also burst from the treeline with a leap, landing besides the Deathstalker. Upon seeing the hunters it let out a startled squawk, also doing a back take. To two Grimm began chittering and cawing back and forth, occasionally sneaking glances towards the group of hunters.

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "These Grimm are behaving very strangely."

Yang nodded in agreement. "Yeah! I saw that shrimpy Nevermore earlier too, and instead of fighting me it ran away!"

Ruby looked surprised. "Really? I had an encounter with it too! I got knocked over and it had me pinned to the ground, but it took one good look at me then freaked out and ran away."

Blake looked over at the Grimm and thought it over for a moment. "Maybe it has to do with the eyes? Grimm don't normally have white eyes."

Pyrrha took a step forwards. "That's what I've been trying to say! When the Deathstalker was chasing us earlier, that Nevermore showed up. We saw it get in front of the Deathstalker and do… something that made its eyes turn white as well."

Ruby's expression darkened slightly. "So do you think it's some new breed of Nevermore or something?"

"Well, it doesn't matter! As long as I can crush it with my hammer!"

Everyone turned to face Nora. The girl had her hammer in hand, and a somewhat worrying amount of blood lust in her eyes.

"You know… she has a point. If this is some super Nevermore, killing it while its small is probably a good idea." Yang pointed out.

Jaune looked nervous. "That won't be easy, it's got a Deathstalker with it, and the Nevermore Ruby and Weiss rode in on is circling back now."

Ruby's expression shifted to one of determination. "If that Nevermore is a danger to others, and we let it go, then we've already failed as hunters. What if it gets away and goes to attack some of the nearby settlements? Or worse? We have to take it out, to protect the people who can't protect themselves."

Yang grinned and ruffled Ruby's hair, much to the latter's dismay. "Ah, that's my sis!"

Blake glanced back over towards the Grimm again. "I wouldn't be surprised if Ozpin had it placed here to test us. The Nevermore definitely doesn't seem natural to me."

Nora pounded her fists together. "Alright then! Let's turn them into pancakes! Oohhh, wait! Ren, can we get pancakes after we kill these Grimm?"

Ren deadpanned at Nora. "Sure."

Nora let out a delighted squeal and grabbed Ren in a vice like hug, causing him to gasp for breath.

"Alright guys, let's show these Grimm what we're made of!"

The 8 of them advanced towards the Nevermore and Deathstalker.

…

Dawn wasn't one to curse usually, but she cursed rather loudly as she saw the hunters spreading out to surround them and approaching slowly.

**"Pinch, we got a problem!"**

**"I didn't agree to that na- oh no."**

Pinch looked scared as the hunters approached them. **"What are we gonna do?! You said there'd be four at most, not eight! We're doomed!"**

Dawn did her best to pat Pinch with her wing. **"Don't worry. I've got a plan, we just need to stall for a bit while the Nevermore comes back around."**

Pinch still looked nervous. **"Well… I'd rather not die on the same day as my freedom… but if you're the experienced human fighter…"**

**"Great! Now, stick close to me. I need you to be a big distraction while I get some good strikes in."**

The duo suddenly charged the humans. Dawn had a terrible feeling that this wasn't going to end well, considering the silver eyed hunter, but they didn't have a choice at this point.

Gods have mercy on their souls...

…

Ozpin stood looking off into the forest, sipping his cup of coffee. Initiation was always one of the more interesting parts of any given year. He did his best to make sure the next generation would have a good test of their metal, while also making sure the less adept students would be able to get trough.

"Ozpin, look at this."

Glynda, Ozpin's faithful second in command, showed her scroll to the headmaster. On it were several video clips of a rather unusual looking Nevermore engaged in battle with some of his new students. The Grimm was rather diminutive in size, and…

Ozpin nearly spat out his coffee. White eyes?

"I've never seen a Grimm quite like it before. Did you bring this Nevermore in for the initiation?"

"No, I do not."

Glynda's brow knitted with worry. "Should we interrupt? We can always re-do the initiation, but we can't bring students back from the dead."

Ozpin elected not to respond just yet, pressing a few buttons on the scroll. Another video clip was pulled up of a group of eight students facing down both the Nevermore, and now also a Deathstalker with white eyes.

"I think they can handle it Glynda. While this is an interesting development, the Nevermore has shown to be far more adverse to combat then one would expect from a Grimm. The students will be able to use this to their advantage, if they are wise."

Glynda didn't look convinced, but did not object. She pulled away her scroll, joining Ozpin in looking out onto the Emerald Forest.

Ozpin's mind raced. He had not seen such white eyed Grimm for a very long time. In fact, Ozpin had thought the variety was extinct. The fact that they chose to resurface now, of all times and places, was an equal parts interesting and worrying development.

"It seems the Champion has come back out to play."

* * *

**Dawn, Pinch, and nameless Nevermore versus RWBY and JNPR! It'll be an interesting fight for sure.**

**Before anyone gets their hopes up about daily updates of this caliber, I'm going to have to curb your enthusiasm. While I'd love to make chapters like this everyday, I sometimes have other stuff in life to do that take priority over writing. Not only that, but I've also been playing around with some other fic ideas that may or may not see the light of day. Don't worry though, you should see updates to The Manslayer at least once a week, if not more often!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and you'll stick around for the next one! Cya'll next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

Pinch, for the record, absolutely hated this.

Several humans swarmed around him, pelting him with projectile fire. Every time he tried to attack one of them, every other one would take advantage and enjoy free pot shots. This lead to a hellish situation where Pinch was nearly unable to attack outside of jabs from his tail.

Dawn was doing better. Pinch caught a glimpse of the agile little Nevermore as she ducked under a swing from a yellow haired human and then kicked her in the chest, sending her flying away.

An explosive pink blast suddenly flashed in front of Pinch's eyes. The Deathstalker shrieked as he was temporarily blinded, backpedaling and flailing his claws widely. While he was blinded, Pinch felt something very sharp and painful dig into the joint of his right claw. He tried to close the claw, but it only sent a wave of pain down his arm.

Pinch barely had time to flinch from the pain before some jumpy hunter with two sharp things leapt onto his back and tried to slice his stringer off. Pinch tried to grab him with his claw, but they couldn't quite reach. Unable to shake the hunter, he the only rational thing when a murderous little human was on your back: roll.

Flattening his tail and doing a little hop, Pinch rolled over. The hunter was too absorbed in his efforts to attack Pinch's stringer, and ended up getting flattened. To Pinch's irritation, however. The human got back to their feet. Damn hunters and their flashy glow power, surviving everything he threw at them so easily…

The hunters didn't let up their assault. Pinch turned his attention towards one with a sword that was trying to hack his legs off, ineffectively. He quickly brought his stinger down on the hunter, but another one with a shield got in his way and blocked the strike.

Smashing the tip of his stinger into a chunk of metal didn't exactly feel great. Pinch shook his tail as it flared with pain. Once again, the pesky hunter with the black hair moved to slice his sting off. Pinch grunted in annoyance as he smacked him away with the side of his claw. Did they really not have anything better to do?

An angry yell caught Pinch's attention. "Get away from my Renny!"

Like a demented bird, a hunter with a hammer sailed through the sky towards Pinch.

Oh gods.

…

Despite the threat of the current situation, Dawn was actually enjoying herself quite a lot.

The humans were just slow enough that they struggled to land hits on her, but still fast enough to keep the fight interesting. Dawn smirked as a pale white one fired several spikes of ice towards her from glyphs in the air. Using the spikes as stepping stones, Dawn leapt towards the attacking hunter. They thrust their sword at Dawn's charge to skewer her, but Dawn slid to the left and kicked her aside as they let out a satisfying "Oof!"

Dawn didn't have time to celebrate as another hunter began to shoot at her. Pressing her body low to the ground to avoid bullet fire, Dawn sprinted at the black haired hunter that had pestered her from afar. However, she was intercepted as a ball of red petals appeared suddenly in front of her. In an explosion of rose petals, the silver eyed hunter brought her scythe down.

The Nevermore dug her talons into the ground and came to a halt, stopping inches away from having her head punctured by the large weapon. Before the silver eyed menace could free her weapon from the ground, Dawn body checked the hunter to the ground, sending her sprawling.

Dodging out of the way of more bullets and ice spikes, Dawn noted the crazy yellow hunter had recovered from her flight and was running towards her, eyes smoldering red. With a blast from her gauntlets, the hunter propelled herself towards Dawn. Narrowly sidestepping, Dawn chased after the hunter as the momentum kept carrying her.

Biting into the bushy mane of hair from behind, Dawn used all her neck strength to hoist the hunter off the ground. The crazy yellow hunter screamed bloody murder and fired off randomly as Dawn swung her around by the hair. After building up momentum for a few seconds, Dawn let go.

Off they went. The yellow hunter collided with the irritating black haired one, causing them both to fall together in a pile.

Taking the chance, Dawn looked over to Pinch. The Deathstalker was crumpling under the joint assault of the hunters attacking him. There was that accursed javelin buried in one of his pincers, and one of the humans stood on his back and kept smacking him over the head with a hammer while the others harassed him with other attacks.

Ducking under a scythe swing, Dawn ran over to Pinch. The hunters moved to pursue her, but thankfully the wild Nevermore finally decided to join the fight. The large Grimm shrieked as it dived downwards, firing off a barrage of feathers.

It seemed as if the hunter on Pinch's back had grown bored of simply smacking him over the head, and now was trying to smash his eyes like overripe tomatoes. Pinch shrieked in terror as he flailed around, desperately trying to dislodge his assailant.

**"AHHH! GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!"**

**"Hang in there Pinch! I'm coming!"**

Vaulting into the air, Dawn drop kicked the hammer wielding hunter off Pinch's back. She followed up with several slashes from her talons mid air, finishing the combo with a deviating beak strike that spiked her into the ground.

Rolling out of the way of bullet fire, Dawn grabbed the javelin stuck in Pinch's claw. With a wrench, she pulled the thing free.

**"OWWW!"**

**"Sorry!"**

Spitting the weapon from her beak, Dawn looked at the hunters. They seemed to be in a state of awe and confusion about what exactly was going on, making no attempts to attack her. Unable to resist the chance to show off, Dawn unfurled her wings to full length.

**"Yeah that's right hunters! You mess with the best and you get- AHHHH!"**

A sniper shredded into Dawn's right wing, a clean hole through it oozing black smoke. The little Nevermore let out a shriek of pain, tucking the wounded appendage to her body and looking for what hit her. With a scowl, Dawn saw the silver eyed brat had managed to take an opportunity in the middle of her fight with the other Nevermore to take a pot shot at her.

The silver eyed demon grinned and took aim again, but the larger Nevermore dive bombed her group again, forcing her back into the battle. The other hunters, snapped out of their trance by Dawn's wounded state, moved in to attack.

Even hurt in such a serious way, Dawn was no slouch still. Kicking aside a clumsy hunter who swung at Dawn with his sword, Dawn darted backwards towards Pinch.

**"Cover me!"**

**"Ok!"**

Pinch smacked aside the black haired hunter who had lunged after Dawn, taking a defensive stance in front of her.

**"Stay away from my friend!"**

Dawn watched with pride as Pinch began his assault, finally taking a more aggressive role that stopped him from being mercilessly pelted with projectiles. With ranged feather support from Dawn, he managed to drive the hunters into a small retreat as they distanced themselves from him.

The victory was short lived as a wail from across the battlefield drew Dawn's attention. The wild Nevermore had its talons frozen to the ground in a large prison of ice, and was struggling against the combined attack of the other four hunters.

**"Hang in there, I'm coming!"**

Dawn began to run towards her trapped kin. However, it was already too late. The little Nevermore watched in horror as the silver eyed devil brought her scythe down on the larger Nevermore's neck. The poor Grimm didn't even get a chance to call out as its head was ripped clean from its body, both slowly dissolving away into black smoke. The four hunters let out cheers as the Nevermore faded away.

Something inside Dawn broke.

The way the hunters were cheering… cheering about the killing of another being that could have been just like her. Had its own dreams, ideals, and family, only to die fighting for a cause it never understood. It made Dawn sick to her stomach. Dawn was so wrapped up in her horror, she didn't seem to notice as the humans once again moved to surround her and Pinch.

**"Dawn! Dawn! We need to get out of here! The humans are going to come for us next!"**

Dawn snapped out of her shock. **"Oh! Yeah, let's retreat!"**

The little Nevermore leapt onto the back of the Deathstalker as the larger Grimm made a break for it. The hunters gave chase, firing their weapons towards the Grimm. Pinch's exoskeleton blocked most of the stray bullets, while Dawn knocked ice spikes out of the air with her feathers.

Once again, however, the silver eyed hunter proved to be an annoyance. In a familiar ball of rose petals, she weaved through Dawn's feather fire and landed on Pinch's back. Dawn grimaced as she moved out of the way of a scythe swing that nearly took her other wing off. Silver eyes or not, this hunter needed to be taught a lesson.

Leaping over another swing, Dawn slashed downwards with her talons. The hunter was slow to respond, and let out a yelp as the claws raked across her body. For any normal person, this would have been an injury that knocked them out of the fight, but the hunters aura proved to be a nuisance. The light flared across the silver eyed hunter's body as Dawn struck, protecting her.

With an irritated growl, Dawn followed up by headbutting the hunter as hard as she could. While aura protected hunters from damage, it didn't stop them from being knocked around. The force of the blow sent the hunter stumbling backwards.

Unfortunately for her, backwards meant off the side of Pinch's back. With another yelp, the hunter tumbled to the ground in a pile. The pursuing hunters stopped their chase to check on the fallen one, giving Dawn and Pinch a chance to breathe easy.

The pair of Grimm managed to pull some distance away from the humans in the commotion. As Pinch ran, the treeline suddenly opened up, revealing a canyon. Pinch dug his legs into the ground, coming to a halt a few meters from the edge.

Dawn gasped in dismay. **"No! What are we gonna do now?!"**

**"Dawn…"** Pinch said quietly.

**"What?"**

**"You… you have to fly away. There's no way for me to escape the hunters."**

Dawn looked horrified. **"No! We already lost one Grimm, I'm not letting you go too!"**

The sound of approaching hunters in the distance became audible.

**"Dawn, I know your wing is hurt, but you can make it to the other side."**

The little Nevermore remained stubborn. **"You don't get it, you big idiot! I won't leave you behind!"**

Anger creeped into Pinch's voice. **"So what if you don't, we both fight and die here? Keep running until they finally catch us?"**

Dawn didn't have a comeback. After several moments, she let out a sigh. He was right, as much as she didn't want to admit it. There was nowhere for the Deathstalker to run, and if Dawn stayed behind, she'd simply be killed too.

It had to be this way.

**"Pinch… I only knew you for less than an hour… but thank you. Thank you so much."**

Dawn wrapped her wings around one of Pinch's arms. The Deathstalker in turn brought in his other arm, embracing his companion. Meanwhile, the sound of approaching hunters grew louder and louder.

Sprinting and leaping off the edge to gain as much momentum as possible, Dawn took flight.

…

Pinch sighed as Dawn flew away. He felt very bittersweet, watching as she flew up the sheer cliff face, past the edge, and disappeared. The hunters would arrive any second now, and find him here alone.

This was the end.

There would be no escape.

Even so, Pinch didn't feel any regret. Sure, he was going to die, but he had done something good with his life. After spending so long just sitting in a cave, ambushing and killing humans, and then going back into the cave to wait some more in a mindless cycle, it finally felt like he was doing something.

Pinch turned to face the humans as they finally appeared. They surrounded him, weapons aimed and at the ready. Pinch did not show the fear that suddenly bubbled inside him. He would not go down as a coward.

The Deathstalker readied his claws, stinger waving back and forth dangerously. **"Alright humans! Give me your best shot."**

Pinch let out a triumphant shriek as he charged into battle.

…

With a final killing blow, Ruby's Crescent Rose sliced the Deathstalker. The Grimm stumbled, mortally wounded. As a death rattle escaped it, the Deathstalker turned towards the cliff face with its last breath. Then, the Grimm fell, dissolving away into smoke.

Yang pumped her fists. "Wooo! We did it!"

Nora grinned excitedly. "That was awesome! We kicked some Grimm butt!"

Everyone mingled, happy for their triumph over the creatures of Grimm, exchanging compliments and advice.

A minute or two later, Blake remembered something. "We were supposed to get those artifacts, weren't we?"

Jaune nodded. "Yeah… I guess we kind of got distracted with the whole Grimm thing, huh?"

Ruby leapt up on a rock. "Alright everyone, let's move out!"

The eight of them made their way back to the clearing where everything had begun. Each pair of partners took their own artifacts, except for Ren and Nora, as Nora has already claimed the rook before. Afterwards, they began the trek back to the cliff from which they had been launched.

As they walked, something nagged in the back of Ruby's mind. Several things, actually. First, the Nevermore had disappeared. After it and the Deathstalker had pulled away from them in the forest, the Nevermore vanished. Did it succumb to the wound Ruby had dealt? Ruby didn't think it could have flown very far in that state…

And yet, something inside Ruby told her that the Nevermore was still very much alive and still out there. The way it and the Deathstalker had behaved were stuck in Ruby's head. They seemed so much different from the regular Nevermore, with their white eyes, coordinated attacks attacks, and fleeing from battle.

Ruby realized that the way those two Grimm had acted was a little closer to human then she was comfortable with. The reason hunters prevailed over the Grimm wasn't because of their strength alone (though it helped), it was because of their ability to outsmart and outmaneuver the beasts.

Walking over to Yang, Ruby tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey Yang…"

"What's up Rubes? Something bothering you?"

"Well, it's those Grimm… they acted pretty weird, didn't they?"

Yang thought for a moment, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, they sure were strange. Don't think I've ever heard of Grimm acting or fighting like that before."

"Yeah… I can't quite put my finger on it, but it seemed so wrong, you know?"

"Definitely. Oh well, at least we sent them packing! If that Nevermore knows what's good for it, it won't come back!"

Ruby still looked unsure, not responding to what Yang said. Yang, sensing Ruby's worry, grinned widely and ruffled Ruby's hair.

"Ah, lighten up a bit!"

"Ahhh! Yang, stop that!"

…

The stars shone across the night sky as the shattered moon gazed down upon the darkened world of Remnant.

Dawn kept running. As much as she hated to admit it, she first combat oriented mission alone had ended largely in failure. She'd saved no Grimm, had her wing shot, and didn't do any serious damage to the hunters. Not even really hunters, just a bunch of rookies too. A bunch of rookies that had beaten her and killed Pinch.

There were no illusions in Dawn's mind she'd be able to fly back in this state. Her wing would take some time to heal, and in that time Manslayer would grow worried. Very worried. Who knows what he'd do?

Dawn had to give Manslayer credit though. He wasn't stupid, and had several emergency backups just for cases like this. In case a Grimm ever became isolated in such a way, Manslayer had stationed Seers throughout the world of Remnant. A Grimm could use these to contact Manslayer in a pinch.

On the horizon, the outline of ruined buildings appeared. The closest Seer to Dawn was here, at Mountain Glenn. Manslayer had good relations with the Goliath Tribe there, so stationing a Seer was all but guaranteed. Humans would never find the Seer either, as the threat of wild Grimm warded off even most hunters.

A few more minutes of running brought Dawn into the concrete jungle of Mountain Glenn. A human might find it an unpleasant place to be, but Dawn felt right at home. The large Grimm population, even if they weren't technically on her side, was reassuring. It helped soothe her nerves, and shake off the last clinging bits of mournfulness in her mind.

Dawn entered an abandoned supermarket. All the food there had long since rotted away, leaving nothing but empty packages and shelves. The little Nevermore passed through one of the aisles, over towards a checkout.

**"I, friend of the manslayer, humbly call upon your aid."**

A Seer slowly floated into view from underneath the checkout, pulsing with white light. Seers had been designed in such a way that deprived them of any will beyond what their master ordered, and as such had no objections to being stationed like this. Dawn felt a twinge guilty thinking of them as more of tools than her fellow Grimm, but even with Manslayer's influence, there wasn't much that could be done for the Seers.

**"Patch me through to Manslayer."**

…

Manslayer sat in his chair, stargazing. It was a particularly beautiful night. The moon and its trailing shards lit up the sky brilliantly as small flecks of light from the stars themselves competed for space.

**"Beautiful, isn't it Sheer?"**

The Deathstalker, who had been rigidly standing next to Manslayer, slightly tilted his body upwards. **"It's okay, my lord."**

Manslayer sighed. **"We really need to find you a hobby."**

Suddenly, a Seer floated over, the light in its head pulsing rapidly. Manslayer recognized the pattern. It meant that the Seer in Mountain Glenn was contacting them. Interesting. Perhaps the Goliaths had needed assistance?

**"Play the call, please."**

The light inside the Seer slowly took the shape of Dawn. Sheer instantly moved towards the Seer, concerned. Manslayer too seemed confused.**"Dawn? Are you alright?"**

Dawn moved around inside the Seer, her voice transmitting through it. **"Yeah, I'm mostly fine. Just that a human hit my wing and I won't be able to make the fly back on my own."**

Manslayer nodded. **"Very well then, I'll make sure to send a Nevermore to come pick you up. What of the Emerald Forest Grimm?"**

Dawn shifted uncomfortably, guilt overwhelming her expression**. "Nothing good… I only managed to free one Grimm, a Deathstalker, and he died as we fought our way out."**

Sheer placed his claws on the ground and closed his eyes, tail laying flat. **"Gods be with you, brother."**

Manslayer also bowed his head in sorrow. **"Indeed, this is tragic. Nevertheless, I'm glad you made it out alive. Did you uncover anything else during your mission?"**

**"Well… there was one other thing… but I don't think you'll like it."**

**"Oh?"**

**"There was a silver eyed human among the recruits…"**

Sheer rose from his vigil, a sudden anger burning in his eyes. Manslayer's interest was piqued as he leaned in a bit towards the Seer.

**"Tell me about this human with silver eyes."**

**"Well, she had black hair with red highlights, and-"**

Manslayer stood up in shock, while Sheer let out an enraged shriek. **"That cursed monster! It bred?! This is unthinkable!"**

Dawn flinched at the sudden outburst, even though the Seer. Manslayer's face went from shock to worry.

**"So it seems that the legacy of our adversary is not entirely gone… This is a troubling development."**

Sheer howled with fury again. **"My lord, send me to Vale! I'll kill the abomination myself!"**

**"Now now Sheer. I'm just as concerned with this as you, but please remain calm for a moment. Is there anything else to report Dawn?"**

Dawn shook her head. **"Nope. That's all."**

Manslayer nodded. **"Very well then, disregard my previous statement about sending a Nevermore."**

Dawn looked shocked. **"W-What?! Why?"**

A curious expression creeped its way onto Manslayer's face. He looked back at Sheer, and then to Dawn again.

**"Because I am coming to Vale to handle this situation. Personally."**

* * *

**Rest in peace Pinch. You were real good, maybe even the best.**

**Meanwhile, Manslayer decides to forgo all the typical villain scheming and just get his own hands dirty! Ruby better be ready, because this Grimm isn't playing around. **

**Hopefully you all enjoyed the chapter! I've had a lot of fun reading your reviews, and hope the fight lived up to your expectations. Cya'll in the next chapter of "The Manslayer!"**


	4. Chapter 4

Dawn woke up as the morning sun shone down on her.

After the events of the previous night, the little Nevermore had taken roost on top of the abandoned grocery market. It wasn't quite as comfortable as her perch back home, but it did the job well enough. Stretching her wings, Dawn glided down to streets below.

Manslayer had expressly ordered she stay in Mountain Glenn until he arrived, leaving her stuck there for a couple of days, maybe more depending on how he traveled. Dawn was happy to be safe, but at the same time didn't feel like sitting around and waiting for Manslayer to arrive.

So, she took a walk. The abandoned city was an interesting place to explore, as Dawn never had a chance to see human structures up close like this before. Sure, she'd been through a village or two on past missions, but nothing like this. The massive, concrete pillars reached for the sky, their smashed open windows making them almost look like beehives.

When Dawn thought about it, humans were actually kind of like bees. They formed their hives to protect themselves, and always came in swarms with painful stings. Well, if the bees formed groups specifically made for killing the Ursai that liked to open up their nests and eat their honey. Close enough.

Humans were very weird. The hunter system always confused Dawn, to be honest. Sure, they protected people in danger, but they also went out of their way to kill Grimm who were just minding their own business. Was it really a crime to them, just to exist? Well, Dawn was forgetting one important piece of the puzzle here.

Salem. The one who kept the Grimm shackled with mindless blood lust.

If it weren't for her, maybe there could have even been peace between the Grimm and humanity with Manslayer at the helm. Manslayer was, paradoxically to his name, always one to try to keep human deaths as low as possible. Even hunters that tried to kill him would usually have the mercy of simply being knocked out or beaten to the point of immobility.

Dawn once asked Manslayer about why he was named the way he was, given his "human loving" nature. He'd shifted uncomfortably and told Dawn that maybe someday he'd explain, but didn't think it was the right time. Though curious, Dawn had let it go. She was sure Manslayer had his reasons, and pestering him probably wouldn't help.

Walking through the abandoned city, Dawn held out her injured wing for inspection. The smoking had stopped, thankfully, and the hole was slowly beginning to close. While Grimm didn't have aura, they could still recover from wounds quite easily. As long as it wasn't say, an entire limb being chopped off, you were usually good to go.

Without aura, humans were pretty squishy compared to Grimm. One time, when she was out on a recon mission, a screaming human with a pitchfork tried to stab her. Dawn, startled, used her talons to defend herself. The poor human's chest practically exploded from the strike. Instead of smoke, he leaked this red liquid. It smelled awful, and was annoying to wash out of her feathers.

Manslayer explained to her that the red stuff was called blood. Humans used it to stay alive, so if it leaked out, they would die. Unlike the Grimm liquid in them, which when exposed to air would turn to smoke, blood just… bled everywhere. It was pretty gross, to be honest.

Dawn climbed and flew her way up one of the concrete spires. It wasn't very difficult, as the weathered face of the structure provided many places to grip. Once she reached the top, Dawn looked out onto the ruined landscape. Groups of Grimm patrolled the ground, looking for any trace of human life, while a flock of Griffons flew in the sky above.

However, everything was not as expected. Dawn spotted what looked like a group of humans moving in the distance. Strange… Mountain Glenn had been abandoned for years. Why would people be coming back now? They didn't strike Dawn as huntsman, as instead of flashy outfits they all wore the same black and grey outfits, along with these strange white masks. Dawn couldn't put a talon on it, but they seemed oddly familiar.

Curiosity drawn, Dawn decided to investigate the unusual humans. She leapt from rooftop to rooftop, gliding as she went, after the group. Closer up, Dawn noticed some more peculiar features. Some of the humans had horns or an extra set of ears on their heads. While not an expert on humans, Dawn didn't think those were normal.

Now that she thought about it, Manslayer had mentioned there was another kind of being that lived alongside humans. Faunus? They were supposed to have the features of animals, so that might be it. Still, what was a group of Faunus doing wandering around Mountain Glenn? Even if they had rifles, a pack of Beowolves would make quick work of them.

The weird group of Faunus kept traveling onwards. They'd occasionally look around to see if they were being followed, but never bothered to look up. Dawn continued to track them, making sure to keep quiet. Eventually, they reached a subway tunnel. One by one, the Faunus filed in and disappeared.

Dawn cursed her luck. If she followed them down there, she would lose the advantage of verticality that gave her the edge in most fights. But, however, finding out what the suspicious group were up to might be important. Mountain Glenn was a bastion of safety for Grimm, and these Faunus might pose a threat to that.

Making up her mind, Dawn swooped down from a rooftop. This problem had to be investigated, even if it was risky.

**"Sorry Manslayer. I know you told me to hang tight… but this has to be checked out."**

…

Roman took a long drag from his cigar.

Things were coming along well. Bar one interruption by that pesky Red, all of his dust thieving operations were going without a hitch. Cinder, of course, demanded more and more, but Roman knew he was doing his job well.

Meanwhile, the Mountain Glenn endeavor was coming along nicely. The tunnels had been cleared of any remaining Grimm and debris, leaving the only thing left to do being gathering arms. Roman already had that covered, too. In a few days there'd be a shipment of Paladins that would mysteriously never reach Atlas.

And then? It was only a matter of loading up the trains and waiting for Cinder to give the order. Roman was sure that his efforts would impress her, or at the very least loosen the noose she had wrapped around his neck. If he ever turned and fled, Roman had no doubts in his head Cinder would personally take care of him.

So Roman Torchwick played along. For now.

The sound of approaching feet grabbed Roman's attention. He turned his head to see that it was a returning White Fang patrol. Roman's face curled into a frown. They were late, of course, the animals. If they didn't need the manpower, Roman would have disassociated with them long ago.

"Hello there boys. I assume you found something very interesting to have come back 15 minutes later, correct?"

The White Fang members stiffened. "Well, you see mister Torchwick, while we were out patrolling we found an… uh… m-magic Grimm?"

Roman pinched the bridge of his nose. "What do I look like, I'm stupid? Just go report back to your Lieutenant."

Shamed, the White Fang grunts moved past Roman further into the complex. With a sigh, Roman took another drag from his cigar. Stupid animals and their stupid excuses. Roman turned to leave, but something caught his eye.

In the darkness of the subway tunnel, four white lights shone. Roman squinted, trying to get a better look. As he did, the lights suddenly vanished.

"Well that's weird…"

Roman decided not to dwell on it. Resuming the motion, he followed the White Fang grunts further into the tunnel system.

…

Dawn let out a massive sigh as the man in the bowler hat finally walked away. He'd seen her, but Dawn was quick to closer her eyes and leap behind cover. Hopefully, the human hadn't realized that a Grimm had been spying on them. But then again, who would? For all they knew, Grimm were unintelligent, unorganized beasts.

It almost made Dawn laugh, knowing how much they underestimated them.

Once the coast was clear, Dawn crept the same way the Faunus and the man in the bowler hat had gone. The tunnel went on for a bit longer, before opening up into a massive open cave. To Dawn's surprise, there were the same concrete structures down here saw the man in the bowler hat walking up a ramp to the top of one of the concrete spires. The man, once at the top, entered a doorway and disappeared.

Stealthily, Dawn sprinted up the ramp. Thankfully the humans hadn't thought to station any sort of guard, so Dawn was able to walk up to the door. Using her break, Dawn gripped the handle and twisted it. The door, apparently not locked in any way, opened.

**"Wow, that was really easy!"**

Suddenly, two armed Faunus ran out of the door, weapons at the ready. Dawn squawked in surprise and leaped backwards as a burst of bullets were fired her way. The attackers kept firing at her, but Dawn was too fast of a target to get a good aim on. With a descending dart, Dawn slammed into the two Faunus, throwing them back and knocking the weapons from their hands.

Footsteps echoed from deeper inside the doorway.

"What are you animals doing now? If I hear the excuse about a magic Grimm again so help me I'll…"

Dawn looked up as the man in the bowler hat from before exited the doorway. He seemed shocked.

"Is that the magic…? Oh for the love of…"

At times like this, Dawn really wished she could understand what humans were saying. Dawn could understand tone usually, but the language they spoke was gibberish to her. She'd have to ask Manslayer for lessons at some point…

The man eventually snapped out of it and raised his cane towards Dawn. Weren't canes walking tools? Why would-

Dawn narrowly dodged out of the way as a ball of light shot from the end of the cane. The projectile carried onwards for some distance before colliding with one of the concrete structures, which it exploded against.

Dawn took mental note not to get hit by those.

"Shoo! Shoo! Get out of here you stupid Grimm!"

Hissing, Dawn raised her wings and puffed out her feathers. She lunged forwards, dodging out of the way of another ball of light. Dawn slashed three times with her talons, but each time she did the cane blocked her.

"Feisty, eh?"

The man swung his cane to sweep Dawn off her feet. The Nevermore leapt into the air and flew around the man in the bowler hat, whipping up a small vortex of air. The man attempted to fight back, but the attack took him off guard. He spun around like a top, hat somehow remaining on his head the entire time.

Dawn suddenly ended the vortex with a dual legged kick. The man was thrown back and slammed against a wall, but quickly rose back to his feet. Not giving him a chance to fire again, Dawn sprinted forwards and closed the distance. Once again, Dawn's talon slashes were blocked.

However, that was exactly what she was counting on. As the talon slashes continued, Dawn suddenly plunged her beak downwards. The man was forced to raise his cane to block, giving Dawn another window to slam him with her talons.

The man took this once a bit more harshly, aura flickering. He bounced and rolled, landing near the door he had exited from. While he did get up, the man was a lot slower about it.

It occurred to Dawn she was still under strict orders not to be killing anyone. While those orders had been about the Emerald Forest expedition, Manslayer probably wouldn't be pleased to hear she tracked down and killed some random human in the middle of Mountain Glenn.

As the human squeezed the trigger of his cane to fire, Dawn did a backflip into the air and took off. In a twist of fate, the hot air thrown off by the explosion acted to boost Dawn's glide away, allowing her to easily escape the conflict.

While the tracking "mission" hadn't really gone planned, at least Dawn had made it out unscathed.

…

Roman fired a shot off at the fleeing Nevermore. He knew it wouldn't hit, but it felt cathartic. Torchwick, the master thief who had brought Vale's dust industry to its knees, taken down by a scrawny Nevermore? It was ridiculous!

Cinder would not hear about this. Roman had no doubt in his mind if she did, Roman would be thrown away like a used napkin. He shuddered to think of the reaction she might give if she did find out.

Dusting himself off, Roman made his way back through the doorway, making sure that it was locked this time, just in case the Grimm came back for round two. Using his cane for its intended use, Roman hobbled through the short hallway that quickly opened up to the base proper.

Roman felt something tug on his sleeve as he made his way through the compound. Looking to is side, he found Neo, his faithful companion. She was looking up at him with a faceful of concern as she gestured to his rough state.

"Eh? Oh, don't worry Neo. Just a little scrape with a Grimm."

To drive his point home, Roman grinned. Neo was still unconvinced, however, pulling his sleeve again and pointing towards the medical ward a short distance away.

"You're killing me pipsqueak, you know that?"

With a sigh, Roman relented to Neo's pleading look and started making his way towards the medical ward. Even as she traveled alongside him, Roman's mind lingered on the Nevermore. Eventually, he pushed it aside. There were more important things to worry about then Grimm.

Like dust.

…

Sheer was pacing.

Sheer had been pacing for hours on end now. His usual clearing had grown larger as a result, more trees around the edges having been bulldozed as he walked in circles, thinking. Meanwhile, Tai and Ju watched him nervously.

Tai finally broke the silence. **"He's been doing this ever since last night…"**

Ju nodded in agreement. **"Ever since the news of that silver eyed hunter being discovered got out. I think the possible relation to the one he had a fight with is getting to him."**

Wincing, Tai remembered the aftermath of that fateful mission. Sheer was never the same after his encounter with the silver eyed huntress, jumping at any chance to kill silver eyed humans. Tai knew they were dangerous threats, but Sheer's hatred for them went above and beyond.

**"Poor guy… should we do something?"**

**"Yes. Preferably before he destroys all the trees on the island."**

Tai and Ju slithered forth towards Sheer. The Deathstalker froze as they entered his path.

**"What do you two want?"**

**"Sheer… you've been pacing all night. Are you alright?"**

Sheer's claws opened and closed, showing his irritation. **"I am fine."**

Ju shook her head. "**No, you are not. This is not what fine Grimm do."**

Sheer hissed with anger, but did not try to disprove the notion. He looked off to the side for a moment, before looking back.

**"Manslayer doesn't want me to go on the next mission because he's afraid I'll ruin it by being 'overly rash' and 'excessively violent.' It's ridiculous! This is a personal matter, and I will see it to the end!"**

**"Did it ever occur to you that's why Manslayer doesn't want you to go?"**

All seven of Sheer's eyes locked on Ju, smoldering with anger. **"What?"**

Ju sighed. **"This sounds like a pretty delicate matter to me, Sheer. You mucking it up with all your personal baggage might not be what Manslayer wants."**

Sheer looked like he was about to stab Ju with his stinger, the deadly venom deliverer twitching out of pure anger.

Tai looked frightened at how standoffish the two were being. **"Guys, guys! Calm down! Don't fight, please?"**

Ju seemed to consider the sentiment, while Sheer simply sneered before walking past them, resuming his pacing.

**"He's a lost cause, I'll tell you that…"**

**"Maybe you were being a bit rude to him, though?"**

Ju shook her head. **"It's not my fault if he can't set aside his personal issues. Let's just go, I don't particularly want to be around him anymore."**

With Tai in agreement, the two slithered back into the forest, leaving Sheer alone.

**"An eye an eye, a life for a life…"**

…

Ruby yawned.

Grimm studies class had to be the most boring thing in the universe. Port would always go off topic about some probably made up adventure, usually about fighting Grimm with ridiculous impromptu weapons, leaving the class to both not learn anything and be bored to a standstill.

The worst part was that Port was frighteningly good at noticing when you were goofing off. Trying to take a nap? Do some work for another class? He'd catch you faster than a Beowolf after its prey, reprimanding you for not paying attention to his "glorious deeds."

"And so the Nevermore was no match for my sheer wit, tenacity, and the clever use of a cart of carrots! Now class, to review, why is it that we as hunters have the advantage over the devilish creatures of Grimm?"

Weiss's hand shot up.

"Yes Miss. Schnee?"

"Well, that's for a few reasons Professor. Grimm are soulless, so they lack aura, unintelligent, except for rare cases due to extreme age, and have no emotion of any kind."

"Correct! The creatures of Grimm, while deadly in their own right, don't have the same cunning mind as us! It can take hundreds of years for a Grimm to mature enough to have any sort of higher thought, and even then they are nothing in comparison to you or I! With that, class is dismissed. I'll see you all next time for the next exciting chapter in my adventures!"

As the rest of the students filed out of the classroom, Ruby couldn't help but think about that Weiss had said. Soulless, mindless, and heartless… The Nevermore and Deathstalker during initiation definitely didn't seem to meet any of those criteria.

Ruby had seen them communicating with each other, and coming to the defense of one another when they were wounded. The Grimm had even attempted to run away, and in the end, they had only caught the Deathstalker. What had happened to the Nevermore, she couldn't guess, but Ruby had a few ideas.

Still, it seemed crazy. Why would these white eyed Grimm be anything more than their usual counterparts? There were stories of silver eyed warriors, but not white eyed Grimm. Were they a brand new kind, or just elusive? So many questions, and not enough answers.

"Ruby, what are you doing? Class is over."

Ruby's focus was abruptly broken by Yang.

"Oh, sorry! I'm coming Yang!"

As Ruby jumped up from her seat to follow Yang, she made a mental note to take a trip to the library and see if there were any mentions of white eyed Grimm in the books there.

Something wasn't right, and Ruby Rose was going to get to the bottom of it.

…

The wind whistled as Manslayer flew on the back of the Griffon.

There was something like excitement brewing in his chest. Manslayer, even if he'd made the trip many times, always enjoyed the rush of flying. The wind, the height, the sights… it all came together to put a smile on his face.

Manslayer's thoughts drifted to Dawn. Even if he knew she was capable, Manslayer couldn't help but be a bit worried. Dawn was brash, and had a tendency to be prideful, which got her in trouble more than a few times. However, Manslayer pushed his worry away. Besides his island, Mountain Glenn was one of the safest places on Remnant for a Grimm.

Next, Manslayer's thoughts went to Sheer. He felt rather guilty for making his right hand Grimm stay behind on a mission he so dearly wanted to come on, but Manslayer had feared he would descend into a violent outburst upon seeing the silver eyed huntress Dawn had reported.

Silver eyes… it would be interesting to meet this huntress. Manslayer wasn't too worried, he'd dealt with their kind before, but dealing with silver eyed humans in general was always risky business. You could never know how much control, if any, they'd have over their ability.

Hopefully Manslayer wouldn't have to kill them, though. He never liked killing humans himself if he could avoid it. Destroying other intelligent life was never fun to begin with, but after the incident with that maiden, Manslayer actively tried to avoid killing when he could.

**"Human… Huntress… Silver eyes…"**

Manslayer hoped this would go better then last time.

* * *

**The plot thickens on several fronts! Hopefully all the POV jumping wasn't too breakneck, for you guys, but there were a few things that needed to be gone over in the aftermath of the Emerald Forest incident. **

**Dawn getting involved has brought up some serious concerns for our friends Rose and Torchwick. With Volume 1 drawing to a close, how might the docks incident be impacted?**

**Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter of "The Manslayer!" Make sure to leave reviews (I read them all even if I don't respond for the most part), and I'll cya'll next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

For several more days, Dawn tracked the masked Faunus as they made their strange rounds throughout Mountain Glenn.

They came and went, sometimes in flying ships, often transporting strange crates with a snowflake logo on them. Dawn often wondered what might be inside. Snow? Ice? Maybe the containers were even some sort of coolers?

Dawn honestly had no idea. However, it gave her a bad feeling. Nobody who was doing something people would be ok with would do it in secret while camping out in a Grimm infested wasteland. So, Dawn had furthered her resolve to figure out what was going on. She kept tabs on the movements of the masked figures, using cans are the grocery store to represent them.

Thoughtfully, Dawn slid an expired can of creamed corn into a circle with several others.

**"So they brought in another big crate attached to a ship… Interesting."**

The little Nevermore scoured her strategically placed cans, trying to figure out what the end goal of her targets could be. The snowflake no doubt meant they were transporting something cold, but Dawn was still stumped as to what.

In the distance, Dawn watched as a group of the masked Faunus marched through the streets, headed towards one of the subway entrances. Dawn hadn't tried to go down there after the brush with the man in the bowler hat, so she still didn't know what was behind the door.

Trying again would be just plain stupid. Dawn had no doubts her targets had learned from their mistake, and would fill her full of holes if she tried to simply walk into their base again. While some sort of stealth infiltration wasn't off the table, Dawn still considered it to be a bad idea. One little slip up could be fatal.

Frustratingly, Dawn had nothing. Just watching ships come and go was getting her nowhere, and another expedition to the base could be suicide.

**"Aghhh! Come on Dawn, think! How can you get to the bottom of this?"**

The base itself was out of the question… but what about the ships? Dawn had seen them leaving, and coming back, sometimes with the crates, but never where they went. Following one of them as it departed might be the breakthrough she needed!

There was only one little problem.

Manslayer.

Well, not the Grimm himself, but rather the orders he had placed Dawn under. "Don't get into any trouble and stay at Mountain Glenn until I arrive."

Dawn knew she shouldn't go against his orders. Manslayer probably wouldn't harshly punish her for simply following a ship and then returning, but it would still violate his trust. Considering Dawn was the newest member of the team, it might even be enough to get her kicked off if he found out.

If he found out…

The tempting thought danced in Dawn's mind. How would Manslayer ever know? She'd simply be following a ship, and then following it back. Manslayer was probably still a bit of a ways off, so she had time. It would be quick, easy, and there'd be no way Manslayer would ever know.

That didn't make it any less wrong though. If Dawn fell into the habit of defying orders like this, she'd eventually slip up and get caught. But it was just one time… and Manslayer wasn't even here yet! He'd have no way to know!

Dawn's internal war was interrupted by the sound of gunfire. The little Nevermore looked towards the sound to see the patrol from earlier engaging a group of Grimm. The Grimm, a pack of young Beowolves, was torn to pieces by the hail of gunfire. None of them even reached their enemy before they were all killed.

The slaughter made Dawn's stomach churn. These masked Faunus… they were killers, no doubt. Sure, it was feral Grimm they were attacking, but they could have just as easily kept going and done nothing. Besides, there was no way a bunch of masked guys collecting a large amounts of something wasn't sinister. It was textbook evil.

Dawn narrowed her eyes as the group of masked Faunus resumed their march towards the subway tunnel. She'd made up her mind. Tonight, under the cover of darkness, Dawn would follow a ship to see where it went.

…

Yang was concerned about her team.

First, Weiss and Blake had gotten into a huge fight, causing the latter to run off, and now Ruby was spending all of her free time reading dusty old books and isolating herself from the rest of the team.

Yang frowned as she watched Ruby sitting in her bed, nose practically pressed to the pages of the book she was reading. While her little sister had always shown some interest in stories and legends of old, it wasn't like her to grab a stack of history books from the library and try to read them all at once.

"Hey Rubes, what's up?"

Ruby flinched, looking up quickly. "Uh, hey Yang!"

Yang sat down next to Ruby, peering at the book she was reading. "So is this for a class project or something?"

"Nope! I'm doing independent research!"

"Right. You, Ruby Rose, who hates homework and falls asleep in almost every class, is doing independent research."

Ruby flushed and punched Yang in the shoulder, as her older sister laughed. Yang glanced down at the page Ruby was on.

"Grimm history? I thought you hated Port's class!"

"Well… I don't hate the class, I just don't like the way he teaches it. You can't tell me you enjoy his stories."

Yang cleared her throat, speaking in a voice similar to Ports. "And so I saved all of Remnant from the Grimm threat with the immaculate beauty of my well groomed mustache!"

Ruby and Yang burst out laughing. Their conversation trailed off for a moment as they recovered from the fit of glee. Ruby went back to reading as Yang sat besides her.

Suddenly, Ruby let out a gasp and pointed to something on the page. "Yang, look!"

Yang looked over the passage Ruby had pointed at.

"The Grimm are usually regarded as mindless beats, with little to no signs of higher thought. However, there have been rumors that long ago this was not always the case. Some historians claim to have found mentions of white eyed Grimm that were friendly towards man and Faunus kind. However, no substantial proof has been brought forwards, leaving the idea of intelligent, friendly Grimm to be largely disbelieved by most of the historic community."

Ruby looked up at Yang excitedly. "This is what I've been looking for! Remember the initiation?"

Yang's face knitted with concentration. "Yeah. We fought off those… white eyed Grimm. Oh my Gods."

Ruby nodded quickly. "So this means it wasn't something Ozpin put together, there's evidence these Grimm have existed for a long time!"

"Hmmm. There's one thing that doesn't click for me though. Doesn't the book say the white eyed Grimm were friendly to people? I'm no Grimmologist, but they definitely were pretty aggressive."

"Well… yeah. But maybe they've changed over time to be angry for some reason? Those two Grimm were acting pretty weird, since when have you heard of Nevermores and Deathstalkers teaming up? !"

Yang nodded slowly in agreement. "I can't disagree there, the way those Grimm acted was not normal. Is there anything else in the book about white eyed Grimm?"

Ruby flipped through to the book's index. "It doesn't look like it, and this is the last book the library had on Grimm and Grimm history…"

Yang thought for a moment. "I know that Blake likes to go to this one bookstore, 'Tuksons Book Trade.' You might be able to find something there."

Like a lamp switched on, Ruby's face lit up again. "Oh, really?! I'll have to go there later today! ...Wait, where is it?"

Yang couldn't help but laugh a little. That's Ruby for you, jumping into something without thinking it out whatsoever.

"I'll show you the way there when we go out looking for Blake later."

"Thanks sis! You're the best!"

Ruby wrapped around Yang with a vice like hug. The older sister wheezed, trying to pry herself free of the younger's deathly embrace. "Rubes… Can't… Breath…"

Thankfully, Ruby let go of Yang. "Hehehe… sorry sis."

Yang Xiao Long let out a sigh.

Ruby was a great sister.

…

Sun nearly dropped his cup of tea in shock, the liquid he already had in his mouth spraying out.

"Wait a minute, you were a member of the White Fang?"

Blake sighed at his reaction. She couldn't say it was too unexpected though, given his earlier thoughts of the organization. Blake gave Sun a rundown of her history with the White Fang, detailing her life among them and their steady decline from peaceful protest to violence as a new leader stepped in.

"So here I am, a criminal hiding in plain view. All with the help of a little black bow."

For effect, Blake wiggled her ears, causing the bow on her head to move. Sun took a moment to absorb all the information coming his way.

"Have you told your friends any of this?"

Blake closed her eyes for a moment, and shook her head. "No, I haven't found the right time to bring it up."

Sun put his hand to his forehead, exhaling. "Yeah… that might be a bit of a problem…"

Bringing her teacup to her lips, Blake took a drink of the now lukewarm liquid, electing not to answer Sun's criticism. She was aware that the situation wasn't ideal, but what was she supposed to have done? Told her team "Oh by the way I'm a wanted criminal, please turn me into the police?"

Blake shuddered to imagine what Weiss would do if she found out. The two of them had never exactly seen eye to eye, and with knowledge like this, there was no telling what the heiress might do. After a few minutes of silence, Blake put down her cup of tea and pushed it away from herself.

"Let's walk. All this sitting around is making me a bit antsy."

Sun nodded, setting down his own cup of tea. The monkey Faunus left some Lien on the table to cover the costs of their drinks before the two set out. Blake and Sun walked the streets, side by side.

"So… what's the plan then?"

Blake frowned, thinking. "I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies. Stealing dust isn't anything new, they've been up against the SDC for years, but this much? And in Vale too? It just doesn't add up."

Sun came to a stop, holding his hands out. "But what if it's the Vale branch that needs the dust or something? Not all of the White Fang is on Menagerie and Atlas, right?"

"True… but my point stands. The White Fang doesn't need this much dust."

"Well, if you want to prove they aren't involved in the dust robberies, the best way to do it would be to go to the place they'd go if they were involved, and not find them there. Right?"

Blake paused. It almost sounded a bit ridiculous, but also exactly right. If they could find the next place a dust robbery was going to take place, and find someone else committing it, they could disprove the White Fang's involvement.

If they could find the next place.

"That's a good plan in theory, but I have no idea where that would be."

Sun grinned knowingly. "Well, while I was on the ship coming here, I heard some of the crew talking about offloading a huge shipment of dust from Atlas."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "And how huge is it? Are you sure these dust thieves would take the bait?"

Sun nodded. "Yeah, it's gonna be massive. The shipment is coming in on a large freighter stuffed to the gills with shipping crates of dust. The dust thieves would have to be brain dead to not make an attempt on it."

Well… Blake wasn't sure still, but this definitely sounded promising, and it was their only lead right now.

"When does the shipment come into port?"

"Uhhh… I think tonight, actually. We could go to the docks now and lay in wait."

"Alright then, let's get headed there now. The earlier we arrive, the more chances we have to catch something suspicious."

"Okay, follow me!"

Blake ran after her companion as he sprinted off in the direction of the docks. Tonight this matter would be settled, one way or another.

…

Roman tapped his cane on the ground.

Ever since the incident with the pesky Nevermore, things had been smooth sailing. Just yesterday the Paladins had arrived from their ill fated shipping. The ten or so massive mechanical suits were still prototypes, not meant to see the front lines, but still packed one hell of a punch. If he wasn't under strict orders, Roman would have been tempted to try one out for himself.

With the Paladins squared away, the next thing to take care of was an incoming dust shipment. Roman had heard through the grapevine a freighter from Atlas was coming to Vale with a large supply of SDC dust, just ripe for the picking. The fools were even going to leave the crates just sitting around overnight.

It would honestly be a synch. They'd just have to fly in with some bullheads, take as many crates as they could, and get out. There were so many, Roman doubted anyone would be the wiser to their little theft. He almost felt giddy in anticipation of the act.

Neo had wanted to go on the mission, but Roman had declined her offer. Sure, having her around would be helpful if they got into trouble, but Roman doubted anything would happen. The police, to put it politely, were incompetent buffoons. During his entire clash with little Red, no law enforcement showed up.

Even if the police somehow had future knowledge and knew he'd be there, Roman knew that he could take them with some help from the White Fang. They were animals, but they were useful animals. Even if they couldn't take on hunters and huntresses, they could take care of a few cops.

If in some unforeseen way things went sour, Roman didn't plan on sticking around anyways. The mission was to collect dust, not beat up some cops or hunters. Drawing attention in such a way was downright foolish. Get the dust and get out. That was it.

Hopefully Cinder would appreciate his efforts. Despite his string of successes, the hot headed woman had focused on his single failure, if you could even call it that, in the face of little Red. She complained on and on about how she couldn't always bail him out, and that 'incompetent associates had a short future.'

Roman frowned thinking of how pessimistic she was. If it weren't for him, this operation would be going nowhere fast. He was the one who stole the dust, ordered around most of the White Fang in absence of their leader, and actually dealt with the many threats to them. Roman would have liked to see Cinder try to do his job half as good as he did.

Someday, after all this was over, Roman wanted to liquidate all his stolen goods, forge a new ID, and take Neo along to some tropical island where they'd never have to deal with people like Cinder again. Crime had been profitable, and dare he say even fun at one point, but with Cinder breathing down his neck it had become just plain stressful.

"Mister Torchwick, we're all ready to go."

The White Fang grunt's words were music to Roman's ears.

"Alrighty then, let's get this show on the road!"

Roman followed the grunt to the base's hangar. The room was massive, able to dock a dozen bullheads at once. Many White Fang milled around, some already in the bullheads, waiting for the order to go.

Once again, the feeling of excitement welled up inside Roman. Ever since he was little, stealing always gave him a rush of adrenaline that nothing else did. This dust theft was the biggest thing he'd planned in years, and finally seeing it come together almost brought a tear of joy to his eye.

"Alright you animals! Get to your stations, we're going to steal some dust!"

The White Fang grunts all filed into their bullheads, rifles held at the ready. Roman himself entered the nearest one, gripping a handle above to keep himself steady. The ship's doors closed, and shortly after the bullhead shuddered as it began to move upwards.

Roman looked out a window, watching as the ruined landscape of Mountain Glenn disappeared, revealing the night sky. The bullhead's engines pivoted as the ship began to travel onwards, several others trailing behind it.

"That dust is as good as mine."

…

Dawn watched from her place on the roof of the grocery store as the pack of ships rose into the sky and began to fly away.

**"Oooh… that's not what I expected! They must be up to something big if they need that many!"**

The little Nevermore's mind raced at the possibilities. However, she shook them aside for now. Trailing the ships and figuring out what they were doing was more important than thinking about what they could be doing.

Now that her wing was healed over, Dawn could fly as far as she needed. While Grimm weren't totally immune to fatigue, she was able to fly for days on end if needed, and Dawn had a hunch the ships wouldn't be traveling for days anyways. They always came back within a day or two of leaving, at most.

Spreading her wings, Dawn launched into the night sky. With rapid wing beats, she caught up to the suspicious ships, making sure to keep some distance to remain unnoticed. Dawn hoped that her dark plumage and white eyes would blend in among the night sky, leaving her undetected.

To her relief, the people inside the ships didn't seem to pick up on her presence. Dawn kept trailing them as they passed over stretches of wilderness, soon arriving on the outskirts of Vale.

**"Time to see what you're really up to…"**

* * *

**Sorry for the slightly shorter chapter, but it's mainly setup for what's to come. Now it all comes together for the rumble at the docks! Roman, Dawn, and Blake along with Sun are all about to throw down, who will come out on top?**

**Meanwhile, Ruby does some research into Grimm history. If you couldn't tell already by the story blurb, Manslayer is indeed ancient and has existed for a long time. However, friendly Grimm? Sounds a bit ridiculous if you ask me!**

**Thank you for enjoying this chapter of "The Manslayer!" I'll cya'll next time during the scrape at the docks!**


	6. Chapter 6

Blake watched as the bullhead landed at the docks.

Sun has been right on the money. The dust thieves couldn't resist the opportunity to steal from the large shipment of SDC dust. No doubt they expected a quick and easy mission, not knowing the two hunters that lay in wait for them.

The ship's side doors opened as a ramp deployed. To Blake's horror, she watched as the familiar figure of a White Fang member walked down the ramp, scanning the docks.

"Oh no…"

Sun looked to Blake. "Is that the White Fang?"

She nodded sadly. "Yes, it's them…"

The pair of Faunus watched as several more White Fang members exited the bullhead. Some of them went towards the back of the ship, while others disappeared into the depths of the docks. Suddenly, another figure appeared, walking down the bullhead's deployed ramp.

"Come on, keep it moving!"

Blake bristled at the sight of Roman Torchwick. While the White Fang was somewhat expected, even if she didn't want to admit it, the presence of the infamous thief was anything but.

"This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human, especially one like that."

Drawing Gambol Shroud, Blake leapt down from the building she had been perched on, ignoring Sun's protests. Stealthily, she ran behind some of the shipping crates for cover and began to creep up on Roman.

He was going down. Blake would make sure of it.

…

Dawn arrived at the strange land of crates.

She'd seen a few of the snowflake labeled metal containers before, but never this many! Dawn had no doubt there was hundreds of the things, all stacked in neat piles. This must be where the weird masked Faunus got all the crates from.

Speaking of the weirdos in masks, Dawn saw a few of them hooking up strong looking ropes to one of the crates near a parked ship. They appeared to be preparing to anchor it to the bottom of their craft for transport.

**"Alright, so this is where you get them. But what's inside?"**

Dawn tried to get a better look at the crate itself, but to no avail. The masked Faunus never bothered to open it up, being too busy preparing to take the crate with them. Instead of just watching that, Dawn turned her attentions to the rest of the docks.

Almost instantly, Dawn recognized the figure of the man in the bowler hat. She could hear him barking out orders faintly, directing the masked figures with his cane. Dawn was relieved to see her attack hadn't caused any mortal damage.

As she kept up the aerial surveillance, something much more worrying caught her eye. To Dawn's distress, she saw none other than one of the hunters from the Emerald Forest! The black haired girl was creeping her way through the crates, making her way towards the man in the bowler hat.

Dawn watched in horror as the girl suddenly lunged towards the man, pressing a blade to his neck. By the Gods, she was going to murder him! Manslayer had warned her hunters were dangerous and killed Grimm, but since when did they kill other humans?!

Anger boiled inside of Dawn. The hunters had killed the Nevermore, killed Pinch, and now they were killing other people? Dawn couldn't sit by and let this madness continue any longer. Someone had to step in and stop these insane hunters, and that Grimm would be her.

Tucking her wings in, Dawn swooped downwards towards the pair.

**"Hang in there bowler hat guy, I'll save you!"**

…

Roman had expected an easy mission. Get in, get the dust, and get out.

He did not expect, however, to have a crazy Faunus girl pressing a blade to his throat while trying to convince his White Fang entourage to leave him. Roman deeply regretted not taking up Neo on her offer to tag along.

The girl's eyes narrowed as she pressed the blade closer to Roman's neck, making him flinch. "Tell me what your planning, or I'll put an end to your little operation."

The air was whipped up into a frenzy as two more bullheads prepared to land from above.

"I wouldn't exactly- Oof!"

Suddenly, something large slammed into both him and the crazy Faunus girl. Roman was catapulted some distance away, coming to a halt as he slammed into a shipping crate. Quickly, the master thief got to his feet to see one of the most bizarre things he'd ever seen in his career.

The wretched white eyed Nevermore from before was attacking the Faunus girl! The Grimm shrieked and snarled as it slashed with its talons, forcing her on the defensive. Meanwhile, the assembled White Fang looked on, dumbfounded.

Roman took the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Raising his cane, he took aim at the dueling pair and fired a shot towards them. The glowing ball of light surged forwards, hitting the ground near the pair with a large explosion.

Not trusting a single shot to finish the job, Roman yelled to the White Fang idiots. "Don't just stand there you animals, get them!"

The White Fang closed in as Roman followed.

…

Dawn hissed as her flank burned with pain. She narrowly dodged out of the way of the incoming bullets and another ball of light. The man in the bowler hat was attacking her, along with his group of masked goons. Meanwhile, Dawn watched as the murderous huntress also ran to cover, avoiding being blown up as well.

She'd have to defeat both of them. Dawn hadn't planned on fighting the man in the bowler hat originally, but now she had no choice. The little Nevermore moved to defend herself from the approaching threat, when suddenly a figure leaped out of nowhere and kicked her in the side.

Dawn hissed in annoyance and flared her wings at her newest attacker. It was a boy with blonde hair, and a similarly blonde tail sprouting from his behind. The Faunus deployed a collapsible staff and lunged at Dawn, swinging furiously. She leapt out of the way, but at the cost of being exposed to the masked minions.

The little Nevermore shot into the skies to avoid being shot full of holes. Thankfully, the Faunus with the staff engaged the masked Faunus, giving her a chance to survey the battlefield. The bowler hat wearing man and the crazed huntress were dueling on one side of the dock, while the boy with the staff kept the masked goons busy.

Talons outstretched, Dawn swooped downwards towards the evil huntress. Caught off guard, she dodged out of the way sloppily, right into a swing from the man with the bowler hat. Dawn gave the huntress no chances to recover. With a mix of her talons and beak, Dawn began a devastating combo of strikes.

Dawn raked her talons down the huntress's chest. **"This is for the Nevermore!"**

Dawn brought her beak down on the huntress's head. **"This is for Pinch!"**

Dawn savagely uppercutted the huntress with one of her feet, then slammed her in the gut with the other. **"And this is for all the other Grimm you've killed!"**

Aura flickering, the huntress was sent bouncing and rolling across the ground, landing next to one of the snowflake emblazoned crates in a pile.

Dawn didn't have time to celebrate as both the monkey tailed Faunus boy and the man in the bowler hat moved to attack her. She managed to avoid being blown up, but was unable to dodge a staff strike to her head.

Vision woozy, Dawn flew upwards erratically, narrowly dodging rifle fire from the remaining masked Faunus. However, the staff wielder wasn't done with her yet. Dawn shrieked as something grabbed onto her tail feathers. The little Nevermore flew around like a drunk rapier wasp, trying to throw the Faunus off her tail as both the bowler hat wearing man and the masked Faunus open fired on them.

Eventually, after being smacked over the head several times with the staff, Dawn managed to free herself of the parasite. The boy fell, but landed with a roll. The man in the bowler hat and his masked grunts promptly engaged the monkey Faunus, giving Dawn a chance to breathe and get a good view of the battlefield.

Dawn's eyes narrowed in on the black haired huntress. She was still struggling to recover from Dawn's combo at the edge of the makeshift arena, using the side of the crate to steady herself. Grinning wildly, Dawn swooped downwards towards the huntress once again.

The huntress saw Dawn and leapt out of the way, but was too slow. Dawn adjusted her dive and caught her beneath her talons. The huntress squirmed beneath Dawn's grasp, but was unable to free herself in such a weakened state.

Dawn stared down at the huntress. Her aura was low, and Dawn probably could finish her off for good with a few more strikes. This creature, Dawn knew, was nothing but a trained killing machine who go onto kill more Grimm if she let her go.

And yet… Dawn found herself hesitating to attack further. Outside of fringe cases in self defense, Dawn had never properly killed a human or hunter before. She wanted to be able to, that much was true. But as Dawn looked down at the huntress, her scared eyes made Dawn freeze in her tracks.

"Hey!"

Dawn didn't get a chance to make up her mind before a voice interrupted her. Looking up, Dawn saw the figure of the silver eyed demon. Her weapon was held to her side, and she glared down at the battlefield with anger.

Instead of joining the fight like Dawn expected, however, the silver eyed huntress turned to look at something behind her. The man in the bowler hat capitalized in the distraction, firing a ball of light from his cane at her. The silver eyed huntress turned around just in time to see the explosive hit her dead on.

Dawn actually laughed at the comical sight, as the huntress was blown backwards and thrown out of sight. If the man in the bowler hat wasn't also trying to kill her, Dawn might have even tried to thank him.

Suddenly, a different girl with orange hair and a green outfit leapt from the top of the building the silver eyed huntress had been on, joining the fray. Dawn watched in awe as she commanded seemingly magical swords, which floated around her and attacked the masked grunts that remained.

Several more ships that had hung back flew in, raining down gunfire towards the newcomer. The girl spun her swords in a defensive circle to keep the bullets away before two more shot from her back, embedding themselves into a nearby building and reeling her to safety.

The girl extended her arms outwards as the swords returned to her, spinning once again in a circle in front of her, but this time pointed towards the ships. A ball of green energy began to form inside the swords, cackling with power.

The girl grinned and made a punching motion, causing the bubble of energy to rupture and shoot forwards as a beam. One of the ships managed to pull away, but the others weren't so lucky. The beam sliced them to pieces, their smoldering remains collapsing into the ocean.

Dawn decided that sticking around was a bad idea at this point. Everything was falling apart, and more and more humans were arriving.

**"Well... at least I don't have to leave empty handed."**

Wrapping her talons around the black haired huntress, who was still pinned below her, Dawn took to the skies. With a little luck the humans would be so busy infighting they wouldn't even notice her leave.

Unfortunately this didn't turn out to be the case. Dawn shrieked as a familiar ball of petals suddenly appeared in front of her, exploding into the form of the silver eyed demon. The little Nevermore dived downwards, nearly being cut in half by a swing from the huntress's scythe.

As Dawn flew lower to the ground, the monkey Faunus from before leapt at her. Dawn cried out as he grabbed one of her legs, and began to smack her yet again with his staff.

**"You want the stupid huntress so bad?! Fine, have her!"**

Releasing her grip on the black haired huntress, Dawn began to spin in the air. The monkey Faunus's grip held for a short time, but Dawn's evasive maneuvers were the superior. The pair of faunus tumbled downwards, freeing Dawn of her cargo.

Dawn's eye was caught as she watched the orange haired girl pull down one of the ships that was trying to escape. The great craft careened downwards, slamming into a pile of the snowflake crates and erupting into a fireball. Meanwhile, the man in the bowler hat ran for one of the few surviving ships. Quickly, it took off, departing with the only other surviving ship.

A sinking feeling weighed in Dawn's stomach as she dodged out of the way of several sniper shots. There was no chance she could take on the combined power of these four. She had to escape, or they would kill her.

Pumping her wings, Dawn made a break for it. She flew up and away from the dock, putting as much distance as she possibly could between her and the hunters. They unleashed everything they had at her, as Dawn weaved her way through both energy blasts and bullets alike.

Suddenly, Dawn felt an eruption of pain in her right wing. One stupid little stray bullet had managed to lodge itself into her joint, hampering Dawn's flight. Dawn flapped furiously, trying to stay aloft, but to no avail. The little Nevermore began a nose dive back down to the ground.

Dawn was still no slouch, even in a wounded state. She managed to avoid being hit by any more projectiles, and pulled off a rough, but not deadly landing. Looking around, Dawn realized she hadn't landed in the docks, but instead one of the streets of Vale itself. Almost immediately, Dawn heard the sounds of humans screaming.

**"Oh… no thank you!"**

Getting to her feet quickly, Dawn got up and ran. She had no idea where to go, but all she knew was that staying still meant the hunters catching her. More humans screamed as Dawn sprinted and leapt through the streets, taking cover inside the nearest buildings.

A familiar ice spike whistled over Dawn's head. Dawn looked behind her to see a different pair of hunters from the Emerald Forest chasing after her, the yellow and white ones. The little Nevermore cursed her bad luck and sped up the pace.

Dawn turned a corner, only to see the four hunters from the docs running towards her. She dug her talons and came to a halt, turning back the way she came. Unfortunately, the other two hunters were closing her in. Dawn's stomach sunk as she realized she'd been played right into a pincer trap.

This time there was no Pinch to bail her out. Dawn was pinned down with no escape. Her heart began to beat rapidly in a panic as the hunters closed in on their prey.

**"No… no! Not like this!"**

Dawn sprinted towards the yellow and white hunters. With her good wing, she fired a salvo of feathers towards them. The hunters were forced to raise their guards, blocking the oncoming attack. Legs moving as fast as they possibly could, Dawn closed the distance.

Spreading her wings, Dawn vaulted into the air. She soared above the hunters in a last ditch effort to escape, beating her wings wildly. The two hunters below her were too slow to recover, their attacks harmlessly sailing through the air behind her.

Freedom! Safety! She had done it!

The scythe came crashing down on Dawn. It dug into her slide, cutting through her flesh. The little Nevermore screamed as she tumbled to the ground, smoke pouring from the gaping wound. Dawn didn't stop, though. Even severely wounded she kept running, trying to get the distance she needed.

Dawn might have made it, too, if it weren't for the wires. In her panic, Dawn hadn't even seen the gossamer strands in the path in front of her. She became entangled, thrashing and screeching in an attempt to escape.

Smoke clouded Dawn's vision as the hunters slowly approached.

…

Ruby watched the Nevermore struggle against Penny's wires. It was strong for its size, no doubt, but the Nevermore was unable to get free. Penny clapped gleefully, turning towards Ruby.

"I have done it, friend Ruby! The bird will not be going anywhere!"

Ruby couldn't help but smile at Penny's excitement. "Great work! Now what should we do, team?"

Yang cocked her head, a little confused by Ruby's question. "What do you mean? We're going to kill the Grimm, right?"

Blake nodded. "That thing tried to kill me. I'm not just letting it go."

Ruby bit her lip. It might be a bit naive, but after what she had read in that book, something inside her had hopped there would be a way to resolve this that didn't end with anyone involved dying.

"W-Well… we could… bring it back to Beacon to be studied…?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "Are you serious? Ruby, that think is a bloodthirsty, soulless, killing machine! It attacked us during initiation, and it attacked again just now! Why would we ever let it leave?"

Ruby tried to think of a reason, an excuse, something. But nothing came. Her team was right, as much as she didn't want to admit. This Nevermore had shown a tendency to attack them twice now, and it probably would again if they let it go.

"Okay… I'll do it."

Scythe raised, Ruby walked towards the entangled Nevermore. Upon her approach, the Grimm began to struggle more ferociously, but was still unable to free itself. Ruby's eyes met the Nevermore's. It seemed as if it was pleading to her, begging to be let go.

Ruby hesitated, Crescent Rose readied to finish the Grimm off. Her grip shook as the Grimm fell motionless, simply staring back up at her. Closing her eyes, Ruby brought her scythe down.

Into the pavement.

"I-I can't do it…"

Everyone else looked at Ruby as if she had sprouted an extra head. Yang was confused, while Weiss and Blake berated her for not finishing the Grimm off. The monkey Faunus from earlier, meanwhile, remained silent with intent to stay out of the conflict.

Eyes narrowed, Weiss drew Myrtenaster. "If you won't do it, then I-"

Suddenly, the heiress let out a gasp. "Ruby! Look out!"

Ruby Rose didn't even get the chance to turn around before something slammed into the back of her head. Hard. She fell to the ground as her world became consumed by inky darkness.

…

Manslayer looked at the fallen huntress with a hint of confusion. He'd expected more from this infamous silver eyed human, or at the very least they wouldn't crumple to a single attack.

It didn't really matter either way. Manslayer had been able to sense Dawn's distress for some time now, and finally was able to reach her. He'd chew her out for disobeying his orders and wandering into Vale later, but right now he had some hunters to deal with.

The first huntress came to him. In a blaze of fire, the yellow haired huntress rocketed towards Manslayer with a roar. Manslayer sidestepped the brazen attack easily and threw a punch of his own. The force of the blow sent the huntress flying through the window of a nearby building, and out of sight.

Manslayer turned towards the remaining hunters. They all brandished their weapons and bristled, ready for a fight. Manslayer had always admired the tenacity of humans, their unbreakable will to go on even in the face of impossible odds.

Unfortunately for them, it would not work in their favor today.

With a mixture of a wheeze and a cough, Manslayer opened his mouth and let forth a cloud of black gas. The noxious cloud acted as a smokescreen, shrouding a portion of the street. The hunters were not only blinded, but began to hack and cough thanks to the gas's toxins.

Manslayer simply walked towards the hunters as they struggled to see and breathe.

This would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

…

Dawn listened in hushed silence as the hunters cried out from within the cloud of gas. Manslayer was on a whole different level compared to her. She'd seen him do things that would be impossible for any other Grimm before, but it always amazed her to see him in action.

The white haired huntress sailed over Dawn's head and landed somewhere out of sight with a crash. She almost felt bad for the hunters, they really didn't stand a chance in this fight. Grimm grew stronger with age, and Manslayer was primordial. Dawn asked Manslayer how old he was once, and the latter simply said he had lost track after two thousand years.

Finally, the gas cloud cleared. The only hunter still standing as the girl with the orange hair, who was currently engaged in a fierce battle with Manslayer. They danced back and forth, clashing with incredible power. Eventually, however, Manslayer gained the upper hand. Grabbing several of the girl's swords, Manslayer pulled her in and delivered a devastating strike.

The orange hair girl sparked as smoke poured off her body. She fell to the ground, light fading from her eyes. It confused Dawn, since when did humans go down like that?

Manslayer let out a sigh and dusted his hands off before walking towards Dawn. The little Nevermore suddenly remembered how much trouble she was probably in.

**"U-Uhm, hey boss! Lovely weather we're having, huh?"**

The ancient Grimm shook his head and knelt down, beginning to untie Dawn from her bonds. **"We'll be having a talk about this later Dawn, but not now. Getting you to safety is more important."**

Dawn fell silent, letting Manslayer pull away and cut through the wires. It didn't take long for Dawn to be freed from her prison. The little Nevermore shakily got to her feet.

**"How badly hurt are you?"**

**"The hunters got me in the wing, and cut my side, but I'm keeping it together…"**

Manslayer ran his hand through the feathers on Dawn's head, his expression sympathetic. **"Good. Let's be off then, there's no telling when more humans will arrive."**

As the two Grimm began to leave, a yell caught their attention. The yellow haired huntress had recovered from Manslayer's attack and lunged downwards towards him, firing off blasts from her gauntlets. Dawn can for cover as Manslayer engaged the huntress.

She was hopelessly outmatched, of course, but Dawn was surprised how long she lasted. The skirmish went on for around a minute, the yellow haired huntress throwing off punch after punch at Manslayer, but her efforts were in vain. Manslayser steadily whittled her aura away with quick strikes, maneuvering her into a favorable position. The huntress didn't go down with a bang, but instead a whimper. Aura entirely drained, and energy expended, she fell to her knees gasping for breath.

Dawn watched as Manslayer looked down at the huntress. She was staring back up at him with enraged red eyes, but seemed unable to muster the energy for anything else. The two stood there, eyes locked, for a short time.

Suddenly, Manslayer spoke. "You… Human, you have much potential to be strong. I simply hope next time we meet it will not be used against me."

The huntress seemed shocked as Manslayer walked away, gesturing to Dawn to follow. The little Nevermore scampered from her hiding place, rejoining Manslayer. The two Grimm walked away, leaving the hunters behind in their defeat.

…

Yang gasped for breath as she tried to wrap her mind around what had just happened.

That Grimm… that thing… it had totally demolished their team, along with Penny and the monkey boy who had been with Blake. Yang looked around, realizing she was the only one of them still conscious. At least she assumed, Weiss was nowhere to be found.

After catching her breath, Yang slowly got to her feet. She made her way over to Ruby with shaky steps.

"R… Rubes…? Are you okay…?"

With a groan, Ruby's eyes slowly opened. "Yang… what… ohhh… my head…"

Yang chuckled weakly, pulling Ruby to her feet. "Some other Grimm came after the Nevermore… it kicked out butts… and…"

Ruby looked confused. "And?"

The final part came out as nothing more than a whisper, barely audible. "It spoke to me…"

…

**_"Come back! Don't leave me behind!"_**

_The great sky beast ignored Manslayer's plea. He ran after it as fast as he could, but proved to be too slow. The great sky beast disappeared into the horizon, leaving Manslayer alone._

_Defeated, the Grimm fell to his knees. Everything had fallen apart since that dreadful night, leaving Manslayer without purpose in the world nor a friend to his name._

_It was her fault, Manslayer knew that much was true. However he did not waste time pursuing vengeance. Some things mattered more than a personal vendetta._

_Manslayer got to his feet and began running in the direction of the sky beast._

_They would be reunited, or he would die trying._

* * *

**And that brings the events of Volume 1 to a close!**

**Some of you may have noticed that the time scale for Volume 1 was brought inwards, with things like forever fall being removed. I'd like to say I have a good reason, but they were honestly just irrelevant to the story, and would have made it so the timeline I had planned would cease to work properly. Don't worry, I shouldn't be cutting any major events out of the story again! (I might even just have forever fall occur as an in between for Volume 1 and 2)**

**Meanwhile, Manslayer speaks! This outta stir up some controversy, seeing as Grimm don't normally speak to people or spare them after they're defeated.**

**And that about wraps it up. I hope you enjoyed this chapter of "The Manslayer" and I'll cya'll next time!**


	7. Chapter 7

Manslayer was furious.

He had been able to hide it before, but now that he and Dawn were safely back at Mountain Glenn, Manslayer let his anger out.

**"So you went after those bullheads, knowing the people inside were up to some sort of plot and likely heading off somewhere dangerous, and instead of waiting another day for me to arrive, you went off and almost got yourself killed?"**

Dawn shrunk. "**I-I'm sorry! I thought you'd want me to figure out what they were doing…"**

Manslayer shook his head in annoyance. **"What would I have had to tell your brothers if you had gotten yourself killed fighting those hunters? How do you think they'd react?"**

The little Nevermore looked at the ground, ashamed.

**"Dawn, what you did was incredibly reckless and short sighted. Now that I've had to reveal myself to an entire kingdom, people will be looking for us. Dangerous people. Like her."**

**"Am I being kicked off the team…?"**

Manslayer exhaled, closing his eyes. **"No. But you're on very thin ice, and I'm not sending you out on any solo missions for a long time. No more stunts like this again, understood?"**

Dawn nodded.

**"Good. Now, tell me about these people you've seen."**

The little Nevermore looked through her memory, still looking somewhat guilty. **"It's mostly these weird Faunus with white masks. They have a leader, a human who wears a bowler hat, that I've seen around too. For some reason they're collecting these crates with a snowflake on them."**

Recognition flickered in Manslayer's eyes. **"A snowflake? I think I've seen that before at a dust mine. Perhaps those crates you've been seeing are full of dust?"**

**"Well, that would make more sense then snow."**

**"Indeed. Now, I have a call to make. Wait here."**

Manslayer left Dawn momentarily, heading inside the nearby dilapidated grocery store. With a sense of familiarity, Manslayer walked to checkout number five. Sensing his approach, a Seer rose to meet him from behind the counter.

**"Seer, make a call to my island."**

…

Sheer was beginning to grow stressed.

With Manslayer gone, Sheer was in charge of the island, and he hated it. Sheer wasn't really a Grimm's Grimm, in all honesty. He could fight hunters, go on missions, and act as Manslayer's right hand Grimm, but manage petty squabbles between other Grimm?

No, this was not what Sheer was good at.

Currently, Sheer was trying to settle a dispute between a Creep and an Ursa. The Ursa claimed that the Creep had stolen his fruit, while the Creep denied the accusation.

**"I came back and it was gone! Where else could it have went?"**

**"I have no idea! Why would I know?!"**

**"Because you ate it, dammit! Just confess!"**

**"I won't confess to something I didn't do!"**

Sheer wanted to scream at them for being idiots. He really, really did. Fortunately, something saved him the effort. A Seer flew towards Sheer, flashing lights in a way that indicated an incoming call.

**"Hey, you two. I have to take this call. Scram."**

The Creep and Ursa looked angrily at Sheer.

**"You haven't even settled this!"**

**"Yeah! What about my fruit?!"**

Sheer stabbed his tail into the ground in front of the two Grimm and shrieked. Taking the hint, the Creep and Ursa ran off into the treeline. With a relieved sigh, Sheer pulled his sting from the ground and turned towards the Seer.

**"Play the call."**

The light inside the Seer took the form of Manslayer.

**"Hello Sheer. Are you doing well?"**

**"No, my lord."**

**"Ah… is settling the dispute tickets getting you down again?"**

**"Yes! I swear, they come to me for the dumbest things! I just had a Creep and Ursa come in arguing over a damned mango!"**

To Sheer's annoyance, Manslayer actually laughed. **"That sounds about right. Although, that's part of what being a leader is. You have to settle even the silliest problems such as that so everyone can work together in harmony."**

**"I'm glad I don't lead, my lord."**

Manslayer opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. **"Anyways, now that I've arrived here on the mainland, I needed to talk to you about something."**

Sheer perked up. **"Oh?"**

**"Thanks to some… rash decisions by Dawn, I have been forced to reveal myself to the entire public of Vale."**

The Deathstalker frowned. **"My lord, you must return at once! Once she finds out, she'll send agents after you, and the hunters will attack too."**

**"I am aware of the risks. However, in addition to these problems, more has come up. There's a group of Faunus led by a strange human in Mountain Glenn, and for unknown reasons they are stockpiling a large amount of dust."**

Sheer looked concerned. **"What? Why would humans be in Mountain Glenn at all?"**

**"Currently, we have no proven motive. However, Dawn has reported they act aggressively to the Grimm in the area. I fear they may be trying to reclaim Mountain Glenn, or worse."**

**"Could they be trying to salvage the remains of Merlot's operations there?"**

Manslayer's expression shifted uncomfortably. **"I hope not. Merlot has proved to be an… interesting figure. His experiments on Grimm should not be continued."**

**"Indeed. I pity those who had to go through his testing."**

**"A shame really, though. If things had been a bit different I feel we could have found an ally in that man."**

Sheer shrugged. **"Is there anything else my lord?"**

**"Yes, actually. Since I'll be staying in Mountain Glenn for a bit to take care of this incursion, I'd like you and the twins to join us. I have my doubts Dawn and I alone can shut down the operation."**

Sheer perked up. **"Really? Very well then my lord! I'll inform Tai and Ju at once. Who will stand in for you as leader once we depart?"**

Manslayer thought for a moment. **"I think Dawn's brothers, Nightwing and Darkfeather, should be able to handle it. They've been wanting to give management a try, so it would be a good opportunity for them."**

**"Of course. I'll alert them before we depart."**

Manslayer smiled. **"Excellent. Now, I must be going. Don't want Dawn to wander off again. I'll see you when you arrive."**

Sheer waved a claw as the shape of Manslayer returned to ambiguous light inside the Seer. The jellyfish like Grimm flew away, leaving Sheer alone with his thoughts.

Ever since Sheer learned of the silver eyed scum's offspring, he'd been dying for a chance to head to the mainland. Even if that putrid huntress was dead and gone now, her legacy remained in the world to terrorize more Grimm.

Not for long, though.

Sheer's claws clicked with excitement, thinking of all the different ways he could kill the human. Maybe he'd impale her on his sting, rip her apart with his claws, or simply just trample her underfoot. The hateful Deathstalker was unable to choose now, and decided to wait until the moment came to decide.

After he was done daydreaming, Sheer set off to find Tai and Ju. Since their usual job of guarding Manslayer didn't apply when he wasn't around, the twin heads were currently off duty. Sheer headed towards their favorite sunning rock, where Tai and Ju often spent most of their free time basking.

Sure enough, Sheer found the two lounging in the morning sun, asleep. The Deathstalker poked the serpentine Grimm in the underbelly with one of his claws, waking them with a start.

**"OW! W-What?!"**

**"You insufferable, idiotic-"**

Sheer raised a claw to silence the two. "Forgive the rude awakening, but I have news from Manslayer. We are traveling to Mountain Glenn to assist him on an important mission."

The two heads were intrigued.

**"Oh? Really? What's the mission?"**

**"Ah, it's about time we got some action."**

The Deathstalker turned to the black head of the King Taijitu. "Dawn has uncovered a major operation of some sort there. Apparently a large group of humans are gathering dust, and Manslayer fears they may be using in an attempt to reclaim the Glenn."

**"What? They'd never pull it off!"**

**"Humans are powerful… but not that powerful."**

Sheer nodded in agreement. **"That is true, but there are other reasons Manslayer has sent his summons. Apparently his presence has been revealed to the human public, and he fears both the hunters of Vale and our mortal enemy may send agents after him."**

Ju's eyes narrowed. **"That is worrying. Well, it is our job to act as a royal guard of sorts, is it not brother dearest?"**

Tai flicked his tongue out nervously. **"Well, yeah. I just hope they hold out alright until we arrive."**

Sheer's eyes flashed annoyance. **"The power of our lord is not to be underestimated. I doubt anyone Ozpin or Salem could send bar themselves would pose any serious threat."**

Ju tilted her head. **"Even the silver eyed-"**

**"Yes. Manslayer could rip the brat limb from limb if she dared challenge him."**

Tai looked worriedly at Sheer. **"Sheer, I know what happened to you man, but can you really hold that much of a grudge against the girl? She isn't the one who killed your son."**

The words enraged the Deathstalker. **"She's no different than the filthy creature that spawned her! No doubt, given time, she'll grow into the exact same kind of abomination that is nothing more than a tool to exterminate us! She must be killed by any means!"**

Both heads of the King Taijitu recoiled at Sheer's harsh words. Sheer himself breathed heavily, tail bobbing out of frustration.

Sheer eventually collected himself. **"Now, the mission at hand. I'll expect to see you on the eastern shore for transport in half an hour. Don't be late."**

Before Tai or Ju could respond, Sheer promptly turned around and stomped off into the trees. The twins were left alone, temporarily rendered speechless.

**"Okay, maybe now I understand what you meant about personal baggage."**

…

After alerting Dawn's brothers to their new job, Sheer made his way to the beach. The white sand depressed under his bulk as he waded into the crystal clear water. While Deathstalkers were not suited for aquatic adventures, Sheer's massive size alone allowed him to go out quite deep before he was forced to come to a stop.

Using his claws, Sheer rhythmically pounded the water. He did this for around a minute, before coming to a stop. Suddenly, the ocean in front of Sheer exploded. The Deathstalker raised his claws in front of his eyes as he took a few steps back, blinded by the salty spray.

Opening his eyes again, Sheer was greeted by a Grimm of ridiculous proportion. Even as a larger than average Deathstalker, Sheer was dwarfed by the sheer size of the creature before him.

**"Abson. Thank you for being so punctual."**

The whale Grimm spoke with a deep, booming voice as water expelled from his blowhole. **"Sheer, hello there. Are you traveling to the mainland again?"**

Sheer nodded. **"Correct. I'm simply waiting for Tai and Ju to arrive before we depart."**

Abson looked curiously at the Deathstalker. **"Oh? Aren't those two Manslayer's guard?"**

**"Manslayer himself is already at the mainland. That's why we're traveling."**

**"Ah, I see. Something important going on in the world?"**

Sheer narrowed his eyes. **"A group of suspicious humans have set up an operation in Mountain Glenn, while another silver eyed hunter has surfaced. Manslayer also fears that Salem may be sending agents after him, due to being forced to reveal himself to the human public."**

The Grimm whale became concerned. **"That is less than ideal. Very well, once Tai and Ju arrive, I will ferry you to the mainland with as much haste as I can manage."**

As Sheer opened his mouth to thank Abson, Tai and Ju emerged from the treeline and slithered into the water, joining the pair.

**"Sorry we're late!"**

**"We aren't late, we had important business to take care of."**

**"Is polishing our scales really important business?"**

Sheer sighed. **"Please, let's just going."**

Abson dipped himself deeper into the water, allowing Sheer and the Taijitu twins to clamber onto his back. Once they were comfortably situated, the Grimm whale turned away from the coast and began his journey towards the mainland.

Sheer stared off into the ocean ahead.

He was ready.

…

"You… Human, you have much potential to be strong. I simply hope next time we meet it will not be used against me. That's what it said."

Weiss snorted indignantly. "Oh please. Who does this Grimm think he is?"

Yang tilted her head. "Weiss, that same Grimm also destroyed you."

The heiress pouted. In the wake of last night's fight, one of her arms was in a cast, and she had several bandages wrapped around her head. The doctor had said she would recover quickly thanks to her aura, but Weiss had been barred from leaving Beacon or participating sparring class until she had healed.

"Nonsense! That was just a cheap trick that caught us off guard."

Yang winced. Weiss was really taking the defeat personally...

Ruby put her hand on the wounded heiress's shoulder sympathetically. "It's okay Weiss! You'll get the Grimm next time!"

Weiss muttered something under her breath, but said nothing more.

Blake looked over at Yang. "So what do you think these Grimm want with us? This is the second time they've shown up."

Yang thought for a moment. "Maybe they want to get rid of hunters? We're the ones who fight the Grimm after all."

Ruby shook her head in disagreement. "I don't think so. That Grimm probably could have killed us if it really wanted, but it didn't. I think it was trying to save it's friend."

Weiss scoffed. "Hah, Grimm? Friends? That's ridiculous."

Blake pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Weiss, I think you've forgotten the Grimm can talk. It can probably have friends too. Don't let your defeat cloud your judgement."

The heiress scowled at Blake. "Oh yeah? Then why did these Grimm get involved in the first place? That Nevermore went after us in the Emerald Forest, remember."

Suddenly, Ruby's expression shifted to worry. "Wait, that Deathstalker…"

Yang caught onto Ruby's train of thought. "Do you think they hold a grudge for that? I wouldn't count it out, considering everything."

Blake thought intently, bow twitching. "It's definitely a possibility. Still doesn't explain why the Nevermore would have attacked us in the first place though, if they're intelligent enough to speak and reason."

Ruby frowned. "Maybe we can just ask?"

Weiss looked at Ruby as if she'd grown a second head. "Surely you must be joking."

"N-No… I mean, if we aren't attacking them, maybe they won't attack us? If that Grimm can speak, maybe it can be reasoned with?"

Yang scratched her head. "That's a bit of a stretch, Rubes. Sure the Grimm might be smart enough to talk, but that doesn't mean it's willing to hear us out. It did kick the snot out of us."

Ruby deflated. "Yeah… I guess you're right…"

There was a short moment of silence. Eventually, Blake spoke up. "Well, whatever we do, keep in mind taking down the White Fang is our top priority. We don't know that the Grimm will do, but I know the White Fang are up to nothing good."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Since when did you become team leader?"

Blake merely glared at Weiss, but didn't say anything back.

Yang sighed. The team would have to come together if they were going to overcome both the Grimm and White Fang threat. Things weren't exactly looking up for team RWBY, but the four of them would have to stand united against the challenges, or fall divided.

…

Roman was beginning to become frustrated with the way things were going.

Little Red interrupting one of his dust robberies? Fine, to be expected even.

Nevermore randomly attacking him? Annoying, but tolerable.

An insane pair of Faunus, little Red, a girl who could shoot lasers, and the same Nevermore all attacking him at once in the middle of a robbery?

That was where Roman drew the line. These defeats were making him look like a joke, and Cinder noticed. After she found out what happened, the flaming pest had blown a fuse. Cinder had yelled for what felt like hours about how "these failures showed weakness" and "no competent criminal was defeated by children."

Pah! He'd have liked to seen her do it any better. Based on the news reports, Roman picked a good time to leave too. Apparently some "super Grimm" had appeared that beat the snot out of Red and her little friends. Roman might have said it was karma if he believed in it.

Neo had been upset too. She'd made Roman promise to take her along on the next mission, which to be honest, he wasn't complaining about. With all these powerful children and Grimm running around, having someone at your back wasn't the worst thing to have.

Speaking of having someone to have your back, Roman had a feeling that the White Fang were to blame more so than him. The incompetent animals hadn't done any serious damage to anyone but themselves, getting thrown around like sacks of potatoes. Hell, even with bullheads they were worthless.

Roman was good, but he wasn't perfect. When he was pulling off big thefts, he needed capable help. There were people in the White Fang that were capable help, but Roman was getting stuck with the bottom of the barrel rejects here.

That would have to change. Roman needed some real backbone to this operation, and he knew just the person to provide it. The master thief pulled a scroll from his pocket. Quickly, he punched in the number and waited a moment for the person on the other end to pick up.

"Mister Taurus? We need to talk."

…

"My Queen?"

Salem looked away from the window as Watts approached.

"What is it Arthur? Something important I assume?"

The man nodded. "There have been some very interesting reports from our operatives in Vale. Ones I have no doubt you'll want to hear."

Salem was intrigued. "Go on."

Arthur continued. "Last night, as I'm sure you are already aware, Cinder sent one of her lackies to steal a large amount of dust from a port in Vale. However, during the act, he was interrupted by a group of hunters."

The queen of the Grimm frowned. "Is that all? I trust you wouldn't waste my time with such things."

Watts shook his head. "No, there is more. Along with the hunters, Cinder's associate was attacked by a single Nevermore. The Grimm was reportedly of unusually small stature, and bore glowing white eyes. The last the man saw of it was as he retreated, it too was flying away."

Now Salem's interest had been caught. "White eyes? You're sure?"

"Yes. While I would doubt Cinder's underling on his own, there is more evidence to support his story."

Arthur took out his scroll and pressed a button to play a video. A news reporter on the scroll came to life.

"A group of hunters beaten down last night by a 'Super Grimm' of some kind. This Grimm stood like a human, though much larger, and had white eyes. Professor Ozpin has declined to comment on the situation currently, besides that he is aware of the issue. Here's some footage of the creature in question."

The footage cut to a shaky video of the Grimm in question as it attacked the group of hunters. The white eyed thing expelled a cloud of gas at its enemies, before walking into the cloud. Moments later, the sounds of combat and human screaming was audible. The video suddenly cut off as a figure flew from the cloud into the air.

"As you can see, this Grimm is incredibly dangerous. If you see the creature, do not engage, and report its presence to the nearest team of hunters. This is Vale News Network, signing out. Stay safe everyone."

Salem was silent briefly, taking in the video in its entirety.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention Arthur. You are dismissed."

The man bowed before taking his leave. Salem turned her attention back to the window, looking out onto the desolate landscape of the Grimmlands. Beowolves howled in the distance, as a flock of Nevermore flew through the sky.

"So, after all this time, the Champion makes himself known. How interesting…"

* * *

**The fallout of the docks battle has brought some interesting changes. Sheer and the twins come to the Glenn, while RWBY suffers from some internal strife. Additionally, the White Fang might just be getting more involved in the breach, and Salem has been prompted to take action. **

**This can only end well!**

**On a non Manslayer note, remember how I mentioned previously that I've been messing around with some other fic ideas? Well, I've decided to work on one of them alongside Manslayer. Titled "Second Fiddle" (although the name is subject to change), the story will be more focused on RWBY as well as some human OC characters! It'll be a lot different from this fic, but I'm sure you guys will enjoy it regardless. **

**Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter of "The Manslayer!" Don't forget to leave your reviews, and I'll cya'll in the next one!**


	8. Chapter 8

As the sun rose slowly, Manslayer sat on the ruined rooftop and stared at the mountain to the south of Mountain Glenn.

Manslayer's greatest failure mocked him. He'd been too weak, too slow, and in the end, unable to overcome his adversary. Someone else now paid the price forever. The mountain was naught by a tomb, a grave that mocked Manslayer for his weakness.

Better not to dwell on the past.

Rising to his feet, Manslayer leapt down to the ground. Dawn would likely be awake by now, and he had plans for the day. The ten foot tall Grimm ducked as he walked inside the ruined grocery store. Making his way through the aisles, Manslayer found Dawn asleep on a crude nest, fashioned from various cloths and other materials from the store.

With a sigh, Manslayer prodded the little Nevermore. **"Wake up Dawn."**

Dawn's eyes shot open with a squawk. **"Bwah! What- Oh, Manslayer! Sorry."**

Manslayer couldn't help but smile a bit. Dawn, for all her flaws, was still a lovable and loyal follower.

Rising to her feet, Dawn shook herself off. **"What's up?"**

"While we wait for Sheer to arrive, I wanted to gain some more information on this group we find ourselves up against. Do you know where they've set up base for their operations?"

Dawn nodded. **"Yeah, kinda. They use the subway tunnels to get into this underground area. There's like an entire other city down there! The furthest I got was this doorway that the bowler hat guy came in and out of."**

Manslayer thought for a moment. While he'd known of the Glenn, and Merlot's operations there, the second underground city was news to him. What could be the purpose of such a thing?

**"I see. Anything else?"**

**"No, that's all I know besides the dust gathering."**

Interesting. Manslayer could deduce that the group was likely using Mountain Glenn in its derelict state as a hideout in order to stockpile their ill gotten dust. What they needed so much dust for, Manslayer had no idea, but he doubted it was anything good.

**"Very well then. Dawn, could you bring me to one of these subway tunnels? I'd like to get a look at the situation for myself."**

Dawn tilted her head. **"Are you sure about that? They'll probably be on high alert after the whole thing in Vale."**

Manslayer moved a hand to dismiss the notion. **"I simply wish to see this second city. It will not be a move on this doorway you speak of."**

Dawn reluctantly agreed. **"Okay, I'll show you the way, but be careful okay?"**

Manslayer laughed. **"That's a bit rich coming from you, isn't it?"**

The little Nevermore hissed indignantly. **"Ah, stop it! Before I change my mind!"**

A flock of crows flew overhead as Dawn and Manslayer exited the ruined grocery store. Dawn looked up as the comparatively tiny birds flew off out of sight.

**"Awh, those little guys were cute! Like baby Nevermore!"**

Once again, Manslayer laughed. **"You know, humans used to think we were the wrathful incarnations of animal spirits, like those crows. The resemblance is quite uncanny, after all."**

Dawn thought for a moment. **"Wait, but aren't Grimm also supposed to be soulless? How could we even be wrathful animal spirits?"**

Manslayer shrugged. **"Humans are strange creatures. They call us soulless due to the lack of an aura, as they see it as a 'projection of the soul.' Aura, Semblances… it's not quite what they think it is. More an imperfect recreation of something long lost then something as frivolous as soul power."**

The pair of Grimm walked on. Dawn lead Manslayer through the twisted streets, passing by several packs of wild Grimm as they did. Manslayer wanted to unchain them from their bloody shackles, but it would be pointless at the moment. Better to deal with the whole Glenn once this was taken care of than waste time in a disorganized effort.

After a short time, the two reached a subway tunnel. Manslayer gazed into the partially collapsed structure curiously.

**"This is it boss. This is the place they went into the first time."**

Manslayer nodded. **"I'll be quick, it should only take a few minutes. Wait here."**

Dawn watched as Manslayer departed, disappearing into the inky darkness of the tunnel. The little Nevermore let out a sigh as she flew up to the roof of the tunnel to perch. Manslayer had said a few minutes, but she had little doubt that he'd take longer. After all, there was an entire city to scope out. That's not something you do in a few minutes.

The little Nevermore began to preen her feathers, but something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. One of the crows from before was also perched on the subway tunnel, the little bird looking at her curiously.

Dawn smiled. **"Hi little birdy!"**

The crow cawed, still eyeing Dawn.

**"Did you lose your flock?"**

The bird cawed again, tilting its head at Dawn.

**"I don't speak crow! I'm sorry!"**

Suddenly, the crow took to the skies in a rush, flying away. Dawn watched it fly away, a bit saddened. Sure, it wasn't like she could hold a conversation with the bird, but having some company never hurt.

Dawn sighed. **"Well, I guess-"**

The little Nevermore shrieked as a barrage of bullets sunk into her back.

"Ohohoho! Surprise!"

…

Manslayer made his way through the gloomy tunnels, white eyes glowing in the darkness.

Unlike humans, Grimm could see in the dark fairly well. It helped them creep up on their prey, or lay in wait in conditions that a human would struggle in. After all, what would have been the point in a creature of darkness that is useless in the dark?

The subway tunnel itself was rather worn from lack of maintenance. Water or concrete dust would occasionally fall from the ceiling, showing off just how poor of a condition it was in. It made Manslayer feel rather bittersweet. On one hand, the fall of Mountain Glenn had been horrendous. Thousands had died, and Vale had been forced to abandon it completely.

On the other hand, however, it served as an important lesson to the humans about overextending. Sure, Manslayer was omitting two other factors that had caused the fall of the Glenn, but if the humans hadn't grown so bold as to build a settlement of this size in such a poor position, none of this would have had to happen.

So, while Manslayer pitied those who had fallen in the event, he did not pity those that had doomed the Glenn to fall from its conception.

As he made his way through the tunnel further, Manslayer thought about this apparent "Undercity." As far as he had been aware, Mountain Glenn had fallen all at once when the Grimm overran it, and no such secondary underground settlement was constructed. It intrigued Manslayer, and he planned to revisit it sometime in the future if it held any sort of value.

The tunnel began to open up. Manslayer squinted as his eyes adjusted to the more well lit area. Beams of sunlight tricked down from cracks and holes in the ceiling, as well as a host of artificial lights. Almost immediately, Manslayer was able to see masked Faunus, just as Dawn had described, milling around between the underground skyscrapers.

Suddenly, Manslayer felt a disturbance. Dawn was in distress, once again. What could possibly have happened in such a short time?

Manslayer turned to run down the tunnel, when a spray of bullets shot his way. The masked Faunus had spotted him, and were advancing rapidly. Grimacing, Manslayer knew that he couldn't get to Dawn if he was filled with bullets from behind. However, he didn't have time to take care of however many of these masked menaces that there were.

Making his way back into the tunnel, Manslayer cocked his arm backwards and punched the wall with all his might. The worn concrete buckled under the sheer force of the blow and collapsed, as the ceiling began to crumble above him. Now running from the tunnel itself filling in, Manslayer sprinted as fast as he could towards the subway entrance.

…

Dawn scrambled out of the way as the crazed man slashed at her.

"Ahaha! Run, run little birdie!"

This guy was something else, yellow eyes filled with demented delight. Dawn wanted nothing more than to fly away as far as possible, but his surprise attack had damaged her wings too much to get off the ground.

Dawn was getting sick of people doing that.

The assassin let out a giggle as he lunged forwards again, blades raised. Dawn ducked and responded in kind with a kick that propelled the man away. Not staying down for long, Dawn's attacker leapt to his feet with bravado.

"This birdie's got bite! Ehehehe!"

Both fighters clashed through the Glenn, leaping and slicing at each other. Dawn was able to keep pace with her mysterious attacker, but only barely. Having her wings damaged hampered her agility, and this human was definitely a combat veteran.

Dawn managed to grab both of the cackling man's blades with one of her feet, stopping him from attacking. The assassin tried to pull his arms back, but found them to be held fast. However, to Dawn's surprise, he merely grinned wildly.

"You've fallen right into my trap!"

A scorpion tail erupted from the laughing man's cloak. Dawn wasn't able to move away fast enough as the stinger buried itself into her neck. The little Nevermore shrieked in pain and pushed back with a double pronged kick before running in the opposite direction, attempting to gain distance.

Thankfully, Grimm weren't threatened by poisons and venoms. However, being stabbed in the neck still wasn't healthy. Dawn began to feel woozy as black smoke oozed from the hole, signaling her weakened state. The newly unveiled scorpion Faunus trailed close behind Dawn, sending off wave after wave of bullet fire.

Dawn knew she couldn't run forever. Maybe if she was in peak conditions she could have run until this gleeful killer was out of stamina, but there was no doubt he'd outlast her with these wounds. Cursing her bad luck, Dawn kept up the running and dodging as best she could.

There wasn't anything she could do at this point but pray.

…

Manslayer rushed out of the tunnel in the direction of Dawn.

Whoever had done this had followed them and waiting for the right moment to strike, no doubt. Manslayer hadn't expected anyone to be bold enough to try anything in the short window if time Dawn would be waiting, though. Was it a suicidal hunter? One of the masked Faunus? Or one of Salem's agents?

Movement caught Manslayer's eye. In the distance, he saw Dawn fleeing from an unknown figure, scorpion tail lashing from their behind. The white eyed Grimm rushed into the fray, yelling out a challenge to divert the attacker's attention away from Dawn. The scorpion tailed assassin looked towards Manslayer and smiled sadistically, before abandoning the hunt on Dawn and heading for Manslayer instead.

The two met as Manslayer threw a devastating punch, and the Faunus brought down his two blades. A shockwave emanated from their meeting, whipping up dust and debris nearby.

Once again, the killer grinned with childlike glee. "Ohohoho! Her grace will be most pleased when I bring her news of your demise!"

An agent of Salem then.

Manslayer would feel much less guilty about beating him to an inch of his life.

As the scorpion tail darted in to stab Manslayer's face, the Grimm ducked and did a sweeping kick, knocking the Faunus off his feet. He followed it up with an uppercut that catapulted the assassin away, bouncing and rolling as he hit the ground. However, the man seemed merely incovinced, getting to his feet and spitting out some blood with the same, annoying grin.

The Faunus rushed in again, moving in a zigzag as he unleashed a torrent of bullets. Manslayer raised his arms to block the incoming fire, preparing a nasty surprise. Once the smiling man was closer, Manslayer suddenly dropped his guard and vomited a stream of black, tar like liquid from his mouth. The scorpion Faunus gasped in surprise and leapt to dodge, but some of the gunk still managed to find its way onto his legs, hardening rapidly.

Now it was Manslayer's turn to rush in. With Dawn's gleeful attacker slowed from the gunk that latched onto him, Manslayer was easily able to catch up now. One of Manslayer's trademark punches collided with the Faunus's face, causing his features to contort with agony. Before the knock back of the blow could move him out of range, Manslayer grabbed the man's tail.

Manslayer grinned. The fight was over.

Using the tail as a handle of sorts, Manslayer bashed the man into the ground, pavement cracking from the force of the strikes. The Faunus's aura held strong for a short time, but eventually it buckled, shattering with a purple flash. Manslayer slammed the assassin into the ground once more for good measure before flipping him onto his back and pressing his foot into the man's chest.

Even in a beaten and bruised state, the failed killer still smiled at up at Manslayer, a playful light dancing in his eyes.

Manslayer frowned and pressed his foot a bit harder. "You. Salem sent you, didn't she?"

The defeated assassin let out a mix of a cough and a laugh. "Her grace knows many things, Grimm. Killing me won't stop her! Haha!"

Manslayer's eyes turned to slits. "I'm not killing you. In fact, I'll be sending you right back to her, with a message. Tell 'her grace' that she can send as many assassins as she wants, as many Grimm as she needs, I'll be ready for them. Understand?"

The scorpion Faunus hissed. "I will not-"

Angered, Manslayer pressed his foot even harder into the man's chest, making him wheeze. "Understand?"

Point driven home, the Faunus nodded once. Manslayer lifted his foot, and the beaten killer leapt up and fled, tail trailing limply behind him. Once he was out of sight, Manslayer let out a long sigh. He'd nearly forgotten how problematic Salem could with the right information. Sure, the fight had been quick, but Manslayer had surprised his enemy with an unknown attack once again. Eventually, he'd run out of tricks, and Manslayer didn't want to think about what Salem and the hunters would do once he did.

Not wasting time thinking about it, Manslayer began to look for Dawn. The little Nevermore had run off during the fight, and he couldn't see her anywhere. Following her distress, Manslayer made his way through the twisted streets quickly towards Dawn.

And there he found her. Dawn had made it quite some distance away before falling, laying exhausted under the shadow of a weathered skyscraper. Black smoke emanated from a gash on her neck, and an array of holes in her wings and back.

Manslayer crouched down next to his fallen companion. **"Dawn? Are you okay?"**

Dawn weakly opened a pair of her eyes. **"Darkfeather… I don't wanna go to school today… I'm sick…"**

That bastard… Manslayer could tell that Dawn wasn't doing very well. The large amount of smoke coming from her wounds spoke to that. If nothing was done, Manslayer wasn't sure if Dawn would pull through.

Concern spreading across his face, Manslayer picked up the little Nevermore and help her between his arms.

**"Don't worry, I'll get help."**

…

Sheer trudged through the red trees, leaves raining down on him as he went.

After making landfall, the large Deathstalker had split off from Tai and Ju. The serpent twins had wanted to go a longer route that avoided the Forever Fall and Emerald Forest, but Sheer didn't see the point. Sure, they might dodge a hunter or two, but taking the fastest way to Manslayer was more important.

The journey through the Emerald Forest had been largely uneventful. Sheer hadn't encountered so much as a whiff of negativity during the entire walk through the lush green forest, and the Grimm population there was quite sparse after the events Dawn had reported. It almost bored Sheer, but he was also grateful there had been nothing to slow him down.

The Forever Fall, so far, was also fairly tame. The only thing of interest Sheer had found on his way trough was an abandoned train. Or, at least, half of one anyways. It appeared as if the front half had been decoupled from the back, leaving the later to rot in the wilderness. Rust had already been to creep its way onto the abandoned thing, along with wear from weathering.

Sheer soldiered onwards, making his way through the somewhat dense tree cover of Forever Fall. He did his best to bulldoze as few of the trees as possible, as their sticky sap clung to his body and made him smell awful, but thanks to his size there wasn't much of a choice.

The Deathstalker grumbled as he pushed over another tree, sap covering his legs. "The things I do for the lord…"

Once Sheer was out of this damnable forest, he was going to take a nice bath in the nearest lake or river to the Glenn. Presenting himself to Manslayer in such a state would only make him look weak and foolish, and besides, the sap was really starting to bother him.

As he traveled forwards, Sheer began to pick up the scent of something in the distance. Grimm could "smell" negativity in a similar fashion to humans, along with using scent in the same way. However, the smell that caught Sheer's attention wasn't sap, or negativity. It was pure, light, and airy. Like a freshly plucked flower on a sunny day. Sheer retched, not because the scent was unpleasant in of itself, but for a much more important reason.

It was familiar.

Very, very, familiar. A scent Sheer would never forget for his whole life.

Diverting off course, Sheer made a beeline towards the intrusive scent. Every fiber of his being pulled against it, fearing what was coming, but Sheer fought against it. His legs moved forwards with enraged fervor, now making no attempt to avoid pushing down the trees that got in his way.

Revenge. Sweet revenge.

…

Ruby took in the wonders of the Forever Fall as she and the rest of team RWBY made their way through a path in the trees.

Professor Peach had sent them on a mission to collect sap for her class, with Miss Goodwitch supervising the endeavor. Each of the teams had split up once they reached the heart of the forest, with instructions to meet back once they'd collected a jar of sap for every member of their team.

Simple enough, right?

Ruby couldn't help but look at the trees as they walked. The pretty red leaves twirled and dances as they fell to the ground, creating quite the beautiful scene. Apparently the trees shed leaves year round, slowly replacing the oldest ones as they did. Since it never snowed like in Atlas, the trees never needed to lose them all at once.

The silver eyed huntress let out a groan as Yang ruffled her hair. "Pretty, isn't it sis?"

"Oh, yeah! The red leaves are super cool! Apparently, all the trees in the forest are red because-"

Weiss grimaced and placed a hand on her forehead. "Please, keep it down a little? I still have a headache."

Ruby frowned, more out of worry then annoyance. Weiss was still recovering from the fight at the docks, and as a result a seemingly omnipresent headache plagued the heiress to the SDC.

"Ah, sorry Weiss."

Weiss's grimace morphed into a simple frown as she continued to walk forwards, still massaging her forehead. The team moved onwards in silence, until eventually they reached a group of trees that were oozing the thick, purple sap they were looking for.

Ruby dug the sap bottles out of the pack she was carrying. "Alright team, time to collect some sap! Weiss, you can stand watch. The rest of us will fill the bottles."

Blake and Yang each took a jar, while Weiss drew Myrtenaster and held it at the ready as she stared off into the red forest. Ruby knelt down by one of the sap trees and held a jar out to the sticky purple flow. Slowly, it began to fill.

While the three filled their jars of sap, Weiss kept a watchful eye on their surroundings, scanning every direction. Something in particular caught her eye, however. In the distance, flocks of birds had begun to fly up into the air for no apparent reason, scattering into the sky.

Weiss frowned. That probably wasn't a good sign, seeing as the birds were scattering closer and closer to their position. The heiress to the SDC nudged Ruby with the tip of her blade, getting her attention.

"What is it Weiss?"

Weiss pointed at the flocks of flying birds. "Something's coming this way."

Ruby frowned, setting aside the half filled sap jar and rising to her feet. "Oh… what do you think it is?"

"Probably a Grimm. Don't think anything else would rile up the birds that much."

As if on cue, the sound of trees snapping and bending in the path of something became audible. Yang and Blake both rose to their feet at the sound, weapons ready. Ruby unfurled Crescent Rose, the large scythe gleaming in preparation. The sound of trees snapping grew louder and louder as the thing moved closer. Team RWBY moved together, weapons pointed forwards defensively.

Just as the sound of trees snapping drew close, it abruptly stopped. RWBY remained in their defensive circle, ready for anything. However, nothing came. The forest was eerily silent as the team began to relax slightly. Then, a shadow passed over RWBY. Ruby looked up with a gasp, seeing the massive body of a Grimm hurtling down at them.

"Move!"

Everyone scrambled out of the way as the large Grimm slammed into the ground with earth shaking force. Ruby looked upon the creature with a gasp of horror. It was a Deathstalker, and a very big one at that. The Grimm was oddly discolored, sporting white flesh and black plated armor instead of the usual, and a red stinger that glowed hatefully. The Deathstalker was coated in scars, various marked painted across its body, and three of it's ten eyes had been destroyed, leaving empty holes.

The eyes that remained, though, burned white.

With a bone chilling screech, the Deathstalker set upon Ruby without hesitation, tail slamming down and pinches extending. The silver eyed huntress darted out of the way only thanks to her semblance, narrowly avoiding being impaled or crushed.

The rest of team RWBY set up the Deathstalker, blasting it from all angles. The Grimm seemed almost confused by the attacks from the other three, looking upon them with annoyance. With unnatural speed and flexibility, it's tail swept Yang and Blake off their feet, while Weiss was knocked aside by a strike from it's pinchers.

Ruby leapt into action, jumping into the air and slashing at the Deathstalker's sting. With calculated precision, the Deathstalker swung its tail to the side to avoid the attempt at removing it's deadliest weapon, and then swung back as Ruby passed by. The bulbous body of the stinger slammed into Ruby, smacking her to the ground nearby.

Before the silver eyed huntress could rise to her feet, a pincer stabbed into the ground above her, pinning Ruby. She tried to swing Crescent Rose at the Deathstalker's arm, but the Grimm closed it's pincher around Ruby's midsection, knocking the breath out of her.

Seven white eyes blazed downwards at Ruby.

"I've waited so long for this moment… to have the silver eyed scum squirming in my grip… I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart." 

* * *

**I'd spend time making excuses for why this took so long, but there really isn't a good one. Writers block, laziness, and working on other things all ganged up on my and slowed this down a lot. I'm sorry, hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to make.**

**Anyways, back to the story itself, things are going down! Salem has sent Tyrian after Manslayer and Dawn, and something tells me this won't be the last time we hear from them! Meanwhile, Sheer and Ruby throw down in the Forever Fall. Let's just hope our favorite silver eyed huntress manages to get out of that with life and limb intact...**

**Thank you all for enjoying this chapter of "The Manslayer!" Make sure to leave your reviews, and I'll cya'll next time! Bye!**


	9. The End, Fate of Fic and Future

**Hello Everyone! I just wanted to post this to put some proper closure regarding the fate of this story. If you couldn't tell already but the title or my months of not existing, yes, it's dropped. However, this may not be the end for Manslayer. The main reason I grew unhappy with the story was the pacing, so I'm considering (not assuring mind you) remastering it with better pacing in the future.**

**I've also been playing with fanfiction ideas in the background as well. I have three main ones, not including remastering this, but I've not gotten to the point that I'm confident to post a first chapter. They're all unique ideas like Manslayer, but instead focus on outside forces from Remnant itself string the pot in different ways. If anyone is interested about this, they can PM me for more details. I'd love to get feedback about them. Additionally, if anyone would be interested in collaborating or otherwise assisting me with a Manslayer revival sort of deal, I'd be open to that. Anyone who is interested, PM me as well.**

**On a final note, I'd like to thanks all my reviewers, and anyone else who followed the story back in it's hayday. I'm sorry for letting you guys down, and I'll make sure next time a fic comes out that I pace both myself and the story better so that it doesn't crumble. Happy reading everyone, maybe we'll see each other again soon!**


End file.
